Bishop T.D. Jakes has finally explained what caused the health scare he experienced during a sermon last year that made headlines and left his parishioners in shock.
In an interview with the Today show on Wednesday, March 26, the megachurch pastor revealed the cause of his illness, after previously describing the incident as a “calamity,” that nearly took his life.
“I didn’t really realize what was happening to me onstage until I got to the hospital in an ambulance,” Jakes told Today’s Craig Melvin. “The doctor leaned over my ear and said, ‘You had a massive heart attack.'”
Related: Tearful Bishop T.D. Jakes ‘Grateful’ After Recovering From Health Scare (Video)
Jakes, 67, said he experienced none of the typical warning signs.
“No numbness, no sharp pain, no anything. I just kind of drifted off to sleep,” he recalled. “I didn’t know what it was, but I almost died.”
Doctors told him if he had arrived at the hospital five minutes later, he likely would not have survived.
“The right side of my heart had completely stopped getting blood at all,” he said.
The medical emergency happened on Sunday, Nov. 24, at The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas.
During his sermon, Jakes suddenly began slurring his words, shaking, and dropped his microphone. Church members rushed to his side and prevented him from falling.
He had been sitting on a stool and wiping sweat from his forehead when he became ill.
“As long as I was up preaching, I felt fine,” he said. “But when I sat down, the adrenaline dropped, and it exposed the fact that I was preaching with half of my heart closed through a clot. And they had to go get it.”
That day, the church released a statement saying Jakes had suffered a “slight health incident.”
He founded The Potter’s House in 1996. The nondenominational megachurch has 30,000 members and additional locations in Frisco, Texas; Fort Worth, Texas; and Denver, Colorado, according to its website.
Reflecting on the experience, he said it gave him a new perspective.
“I was on my way out,” he said. “Afterwards in retrospect, it was such a privilege to stand on the other side, to get a little glimpse of what it might be like… I think it was absolutely amazing.”
Jakes now appears to be in good spirits, detailing that he doesn’t plan on slowing down.
“I’m getting faster because one, I’m older. Two, I’m grateful. Three, I’ve got something to say,” he explained.
Watch the interview below:
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