Celebrity televangelist, pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes recently opened up about a life-threatening health scare, expressing profound gratitude for his survival following a “massive heart attack” in 2024.
The 67-year-old head pastor of The Potter’s House in Dallas revealed that he “almost died” during the incident, which unfolded unexpectedly while he was delivering a sermon on November 24, 2024.
In an exclusive interview with Craig Melvin on TODAY on March 26, 2025, Jakes recounted the harrowing experience for the first time.
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While preaching, he began to feel unusual symptoms—pausing mid-sermon, trembling, and eventually lowering his microphone. Unknown to him, these were the subtle precursors of a severe cardiac event.
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“I didn’t really realize what was happening to me onstage until I got to the hospital in an ambulance,” Jakes told Melvin. “The doctor leaned over my ear and said, ‘You had a massive heart attack.’”
What made the episode particularly shocking was the absence of classic heart attack indicators. Jakes experienced no chest pain, radiating discomfort, or cold sweats—symptoms typically associated with such an event.
“No numbness, no sharp pain, nothing. I just kind of drifted off to sleep,” he explained. “The doctor said five minutes later, I’d have been dead on arrival.”
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Medical staff later determined that the right side of his heart had ceased receiving blood due to a clot, necessitating immediate surgery.
Reflecting on the moment his symptoms escalated, Jakes noted that he felt fine while standing and delivering his sermon. However, once he sat down, the drop in adrenaline revealed the severity of his condition. “I was preaching with half of my heart closed through a clot,” he said.
The ordeal, Jakes believes, brought him to the threshold of a near-death experience, offering him a profound spiritual encounter. “It’s hard for me to look at that video. They had to claw the microphone out of my hand,” he shared.
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“But in my mind, I was in a quiet, peaceful, serene, white-enveloped, cloud-enveloped space. I was on my way out.”
