Ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giulianiemerged from a coma Monday and was talking and alert as he remained hospitalized in Florida while recovering from pneumonia, Big Apple billionaire pal John Catsimatidis said.
Catsimatidis said he received the uplifting news from a close former aide to the 81-year-old ex-“America’s mayor’’ Monday afternoon.
“He’s talking, he’s alert. To me, that’s great news,’’ the supermarket and media mogul told reporters.
Giuliani’sshocking weekend hospitalization occurredafter he was stricken with the respiratory illness, said his business partner, Tom von Essen, who served as the city’s fire commissioner during 9/11.
“Rudy had a tough weekend. He had pneumonia,” von Essen told The Post, calling Monday “an important day’’ in terms of Giuliani’s recovery.
Giuliani’s spokesman, Ted Goodman, confirmed the ex-mayor was recovering from pneumonia and said he was being monitored as a precautionary measure.
He was now breathing on his own, with his family and primary medical provider at his side, the spokesman said.
“Mayor Giuliani is the ultimate fighter — as he has demonstrated throughout his life — and he is winning this battle,” Goodman said.
The illness is tied to a condition stemming from Giuliani’s experience as mayor during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, the rep said.
“On September 11th, Mayor Giuliani ran toward the towers to help those in need, which led to a restrictive airway disease diagnosis,” the spokesman said.
Source: Drudge Report
