Bishop T.D. Jakes has revealed that his medical emergency, which occurred in Church last November, was a result of a heart attack.
It would be recalled that the preacher fell while delivering the sermon at the Porter’s House Church in Dallas in November 2024, prompting concern from the congregation and family members.
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Appearing recently on the Today Show, he noted he was not aware of what was happening around him at the time.
“I didn’t really realize what was happening to me onstage until I got to the hospital in an ambulance…And the doctor leaned over in my ear and said, ‘You’ve had a massive heart attack,” he stated.
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Jakes explained that he was surprised about the incident as he did not have the traditional symptoms of a heart attack.
“I just kind of drifted off to sleep. I didn’t know what it was….[The doctor] said five minutes later I’d have been dead on arrival,” he added during the interview.
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“The right side of my heart had completely stopped giving blood at all. And as long as I was up preaching, I felt fine.
“But when I sat down, the adrenaline dropped, and it exposed the fact that I was preaching with half of my heart closed with a clot,” he noted, adding that he had to undergo surgery to remove the clot.
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That notwithstanding, he said it was amazing to have a lot of people show their support at the time.
“In retrospect, it was such a privilege to stand on the other side to get a little glimpse of what that might be like or at least what it was like in that moment for me,” he said.
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“I think it was absolutely amazing. And then I had my whole church — and when I say my whole church I mean global not just the congregation, even people who didn’t go to my church — people everywhere sending prayers. I’m so thankful,” he noted.
In December 2024, the Bishop sent a video message to members of his church, saying he had undergone “emergency surgery,” and asked his followers to praise God that they were not “planning a funeral.”
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“Many of you don’t realise that you’re looking at a miracle…I faced a life-threatening calamity, was rushed to the ICU unit, had emergency surgery, survived the surgery,” he stated in the video, thanking his followers and God for being alive.
“I’m grateful to God for his goodness and his mercy, and to not just our local church, but to the global community that follows this ministry,” the preacher stated.
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Jakes added that he was taking time to rest and recover, per doctor’s orders, but did not provide details about his diagnosis at the time.
