This guy's got 9 lives, today he's doing much better.
At 81, Rudy Giuliani — former mayor of New York City and a figure long defined by his proximity to crisis — found himself once again at the edge of survival, this time in a hospital bed after a sudden respiratory collapse following a trip to Paris. Last rites were administered, and yet by Tuesday the ventilator was removed, and by Wednesday he was speaking. It is a story the people around him have told before in different forms: a man who has repeatedly stood at the threshold and turned back.
- Giuliani's breathing failed so rapidly after returning from Paris that emergency hospitalization on Sunday gave way to critical condition by Monday, with doctors summoning a priest to administer last rites.
- The speed of the collapse — from international travel to ventilator dependency within days — alarmed those close to him and raised the possibility that this crisis might be his last.
- By Tuesday, something shifted: his lungs resumed their work, the ventilator came off, and his physician began speaking not of survival but of full recovery, calling the turnaround 'like a miracle.'
- He remains hospitalized under medical supervision, but is now conscious, speaking, and surrounded by public expressions of support — the immediate danger passed, the longer recovery underway.
Rudy Giuliani, 81, left the intensive care unit this week after a respiratory crisis that had grown severe enough for a priest to be called to his bedside. He had returned from Paris when his breathing deteriorated sharply, requiring emergency hospitalization on Sunday and ventilator support by Monday. His physician, Maria Ryan, described the lung failure as grave — grave enough that the Catholic sacrament of anointing the sick was administered.
Then, by Tuesday, his lungs began working on their own again. The ventilator came off. By Wednesday, his associate Ted Goodman confirmed that Giuliani was conscious and able to speak, and Ryan expressed confidence in a full recovery, attributing the turnaround partly to what she called his fighter's temperament.
The crisis arrived against a backdrop of years of accumulated physical hardship. His lungs were scarred by toxic debris inhaled in the hours after September 11, 2001, when as mayor he moved toward the burning towers — a fact his supporters invoked again this week as a measure of the man. Last August, a car accident in New Hampshire fractured a vertebra in his spine. He recovered from that too.
Goodman's public statement leaned into Giuliani's identity as someone built to endure, and President Trump called him the best mayor in New York City's history and a 'True Warrior.' For now, Giuliani remains in the hospital — but breathing on his own, speaking, and by all accounts still here.
Rudy Giuliani, the 81-year-old former mayor of New York City, left the intensive care unit this week after a severe respiratory crisis that at one point seemed life-threatening enough to warrant last rites. He remains hospitalized but is breathing on his own again, a marked improvement from the ventilator that kept him alive just days earlier.
Giuliani fell ill after returning from Paris, his breathing deteriorating rapidly enough to require emergency hospitalization on Sunday. By Monday, his condition had become critical. His physician, Maria Ryan, told Fox News that his lungs had failed to the degree that doctors called a priest to his bedside to perform the Catholic sacrament of anointing the sick—a ritual typically reserved for those in grave danger. The speed of the decline was startling: a man who had been traveling abroad suddenly unable to sustain his own respiration.
But something shifted by Tuesday. The ventilator came off. Giuliani's lungs began working again. By Wednesday, when his longtime associate Ted Goodman released a statement to social media, the former mayor was not only alive but conscious and able to speak. Ryan expressed confidence that he would recover fully, describing the turnaround as "like a miracle." She noted his fighter's temperament—the same quality, she suggested, that had carried him through worse.
Giuliani's health has been fragile for years. In the months after September 11, 2001, when he was the sitting mayor and rushed toward the towers as they burned, he inhaled toxic debris that eventually scarred his lungs. Doctors diagnosed him with restrictive airway disease, a chronic condition that narrows the passages through which air flows. Then, last August, a car crash in New Hampshire broke a vertebra in his thoracic spine and left him with multiple lacerations. He survived that too.
The statement from Goodman, who has worked with Giuliani on a livestream program, emphasized the role of prayer and public support. "The power of prayer is working," Goodman wrote, and encouraged people to continue sending their wishes. He also invoked Giuliani's public identity—the man who prosecuted organized crime figures, who led New York through its darkest day, who "ran toward the towers." The implication was clear: this was a man built to endure.
President Trump, learning of the hospitalization, called Giuliani the best mayor in New York City's history and described him as a "True Warrior." The language reflected the political weight Giuliani still carries, even in his eighties and in a hospital bed.
Giuliani will remain in the hospital for now, his recovery continuing under medical supervision. But the immediate crisis has passed. A man who was administered last rites is now breathing on his own, speaking, and—according to those around him—winning.
Notable Quotes
He's a fighter—the way he was yesterday in such a critical condition, he did have a priest come anoint him. And all the prayers from around—it's like a miracle. This guy's got 9 lives, today he's doing much better.— Maria Ryan, Giuliani's physician
Mayor Giuliani—the man who took down the Mafia, saved New York City, and ran toward the towers on September 11th—is the same fighter he's always been, and he's winning this fight.— Ted Goodman, political strategist and associate
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
What made this particular illness so dangerous? He's been through health crises before.
The speed. He went from traveling in Paris to needing a ventilator in what sounds like days. His lungs simply stopped working. That's different from a broken bone or even the chronic lung damage from 9/11.
And the last rites—that's a signal the doctors thought he might not make it.
Exactly. When a priest is called to the bedside, the medical team is preparing for the worst. They were hedging their bets spiritually because they couldn't guarantee the medical outcome.
But he turned around quickly.
Within 24 hours of the crisis point, he was off the ventilator. His doctor called it a miracle. Whether you believe in miracles or just good medical care and a body that still has some fight in it, the fact is he recovered when recovery wasn't certain.
Does his age matter here?
At 81, respiratory failure is more dangerous. His lungs were already compromised from 9/11 exposure. But his doctor also emphasized his fighter's mentality—that he has what she called nine lives. Maybe that matters too.
What happens now?
He stays in the hospital until he's stable enough to go home. His doctor expects full recovery, but he'll need time. The question is whether this changes how he lives going forward, or whether he goes back to the same pace.