Kathie Lee Gifford said years of debilitating physical pain became so overwhelming that she reached a point where she felt ready to “go home” to heaven, opening up about one of the darkest periods of her life on a new episode of Sean Hannity’s podcast.
“I was done,” Gifford said, adding later that she “just wanted to go home to Jesus.”
The broadcasting legend reflected on the health challenges that nearly broke her spirit during a wide-ranging conversation with Hannity, touching on her decades-long career, Christian faith, family and the resilience she found after enduring years of physical setbacks.
In the process, Gifford opened up about living “10 lives” and surviving the intense physical agony that left her crawling across her floor.
“And I’ve been so blessed in my life. I had five grandchildren within three years. My son had three, and my daughter had two children, and thus making me a bubby, which is the Yiddish for grandma. And as joyful as that was, I couldn’t even hold them.”
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From a catastrophic medical misdiagnosis to harrowing falls that left her pelvis fractured, she revealed how hitting “rock bottom” physically tested and ultimately strengthened her faith.
“I thought I had the best doctors in the world,” she said. “And they kept saying to me, ‘It’s not your hip, it is your spine.'”
Gifford disagreed with their assertions, saying she knew her body was telling her a different story. At the time, she couldn’t walk, and a doctor’s misread of an X-ray further delayed treatment.
“I was crawling to the bathroom by the time I finally had my hip replaced,” she said, recalling that one physician was stunned by the condition she had been living in.
Gifford said she ultimately made a call to the doctor about her misdiagnosis and threatened to sue.
“I don’t want anybody else to ever have to suffer like that,” she said.
Hannity’s full conversation with Gifford is available on iHeart, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and other major podcast platforms.
If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
