Pastor T.D. Jakes has revealed that the life-threatening medical emergency he suffered during a church sermon last year was a “massive” heart attack.
During an interview with TODAY on Wednesday (March 26), Jakes, a pastor at The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas, opened up about suffering a heart attack onstage during his livestreamed sermon in November 2024.
“I didn’t really realize what was happening to me onstage until I got to the hospital in an ambulance and fussing that it happened onstage, by the way, because I didn’t want it to happen, and the doctor leaned over my ear and said, ‘You had a massive heart attack,'” Jakes said.
Video of Jakes’ live-streamed church service showed the pastor delivering an inspirational message before he suddenly stopped talking and began convulsing. Congregation members surrounded the pastor during the apparent health incident before the livestream was cut off.
“The reason I didn’t realize it was because I had none of the symptoms that they say,” Jakes said of the heart attack. “No numbness, no sharp pain, no anything. I just kind of drifted off to sleep. I didn’t know what it was, but I almost died.
“[The doctor] said five minutes later, I’d have been dead on arrival,” he added. “The right side of my heart had completely stopped getting blood at all.”
After having surgery, Jakes returned to the church for his first sermon on New Year’s Eve. The pastor said he has no plans to slow down and shared plans of upcoming events at the church as well as a new podcast he’s starting.
“No, I’m getting faster because one, I’m older. Two, I’m grateful. Three, I’ve got something to say,” Jakes said.
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