Megachurch Pastor John Gray Facing Life-Threatening Pulmonary Embolism; Family Seeks Prayers
Pastor John Gray, the founder of Relentless Church, a megachurch based in Greenville, South Carolina, has been admitted to the critical care unit at an unnamed hospital, suffering from a saddle pulmonary embolism with additional blood clots in his lungs.
Gray's wife, Aventer, asked for prayers for her husband in an Instagram post on Sunday, writing: "My family and I stand in need of a miracle. Please keep my husband @realjohngray in your prayers."
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The church's co-pastor, went on to explain what happened to Gray, 49.
"After feeling a little different over the past couple weeks, he went to the ER on Thursday evening and was immediately admitted to CCU with a saddle pulmonary embolism in the pulmonary artery and more lung blood clots. The Saddle PE is in a position that could potentially end his life if it shifts at all," Aventer described.
"The clot burden is severe and only God is holding it in place. He is currently in CCU and based on CT & Echo we will need two types of surgery due to the pressure now on the heart within the next 24 hours. To place this in perspective, the doctor said that people have come into the hospital dead with this exact scenario he walked in with," she continued.
According to Healthline.com, a Saddle PE is a rare kind of PE that gets its name from its position when it gets stuck in the lungs. This clot sits within the main artery of the lungs, where it begins to branch off to either side. For this reason, a saddle PE has a high risk of blocking blood flow to the lungs. The name refers to the fact that the clot "saddles" on top of both branch arteries. If a saddle PE blocks one or more of the pulmonary arteries, this can lead to heart failure and death.
Most people who have this type of condition survive. A 2014 study found that the mortality rate for saddle PE was 3.62 percent, compared to 3.19 percent for people with other types of PE.
Gray's Wife Updates His Condition
Late Monday evening, Aventer posted an update to Instagram on Gray's condition, announcing his leg clot was gone and thanking her followers for their prayers and outpouring of love.
"Please continue!" she wrote.
Before moving to Greenville with his wife and two children to form Relentless Church in 2018, Gray served as an associate pastor at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. He also had his own reality TV series titled The Book of John Gray which aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) for three seasons before it was canceled. OWN still offers episodes of the series on its website.
Relentless Church has two campuses. One is located in Greenville and the other is located in Powder Springs, Georgia.
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