Texas megachurch pastor T.D. Jakes revealed Wednesday that the “health incident” he suffered in November 2024 was a heart attack.
The founding pastor of the Potter’s House Church confirmed in an exclusive interview with Today on Wednesday that he had a massive heart attack.
Pastor T.D. Jakes’ 2024 health incident while giving a sermon
It was a shocking moment in Nov. 24, 2024 that was caught on video and went viral. Jakes was on stage finishing an hour-long sermon when he lowered his mic and began to shudder. A crowd of people quickly rushed over and surrounded him on stage.
In a statement shared via Facebook in late November last year, his church said the renowned pastor and author received immediate medical attention and was stable under the care of healthcare professionals.
In the weeks after, Jakes updated the congregation of The Potter’s House Dallas with a livestreamed message.
“I faced a life-threatening calamity, was rushed to the ICU unit, had emergency surgery [and] survived this surgery,” Jakes said in a livestream in December 2024.
He also shared that the “strangest” experience during the incident was that he didn’t see or feel what others did, noting that he didn’t fully understand what was happening until he later saw it on TV. Instead, he described feeling “cradled” in a way that was peaceful.
The pastor now said he didn’t know he was having a heart attack.
“The reason I didn’t realize it was because I had none of the symptoms that they say,” Jakes said to Craig Melvin on “Today.” “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. The right side of my heart had completely stopped getting blood at all.”
T.D. Jakes 2024 reflections on his health incident
“Many of you don’t realize that you’re looking at a miracle,” Jakes said in December 2024. “I faced a life-threatening calamity, was rushed to the ICU unit, had emergency surgery [and] survived this surgery.”
The megachurch pastor expressed gratitude for the outpouring of love, prayers and concern he received, emphasizing that neither the First Lady nor God ever left his side.
He also shared how he became emotional on his last day in the hospital when he saw someone being taken to the morgue, using the moment to share a message about perspective.
“Every moment, every second, every minute of your life, you should recognize that somebody’s headed to the morgue while you’re headed to the light,” Jakes said. “Not because you’re any better, not because they’re any worse, but by the amazing grace of God.”
Who is Bishop T.D. Jakes?
Jakes founded The Potter’s House, a non-denominational, multicultural church, in 1996. According to the church’s website, it has over 30,000 members and consistently ranks among the largest and most influential churches in the U.S.
