The Rev. Billy Graham was in good spirits at a North Carolina hospital after being given his second pneumonia diagnosis since May.
Graham, 93, was taken to Mission Hospital in Asheville on Wednesday after suffering from congestion, a cough and slight fever, spokesman Larry Ross said. The pneumonia diagnosis was made Thursday.
“He is responding well to antibiotic treatment and is in stable condition,” said Dr. Mark Hellreich, a pulmonologist treating Graham at the hospital.
Graham was alert and upbeat, greeting hospital workers and asking them questions about themselves, according to a statement from a hospital spokeswoman. No date has been set for his discharge.
In a public ministry that lasted six decades, Graham became the most prominent American Protestant leader and arguably the most famous American Christian in the world. His public crusade meetings packed stadiums and made him an acquaintance of every president from Harry Truman to Barack Obama.
In recent years, Graham has almost completely stopped appearing in public as conditions such as macular degeneration and hearing loss have kept him at home in Montreat, about 20 miles east of Asheville.
Source: Urban Christian News
