Doctors Say Liz Taylor Nearly Died Over the Weekend
Elizabeth Taylor has rallied from a near-fatal bout with pneumonia _ and even joked about coming out in her ``balcony attire'' to wave to reporters _ but is ``not out of the woods,'' doctors say. ``I believe her life was in jeopardy over the weekend and I believe that has now passed,'' Dr. Bernard Weintraub, a lung specialist treating Miss Taylor at St. Johns Hospital and Health Center, said Wednesday. The 58-year-old actress was taken off the ventilator that had aided her breathing for several days and was smiling again and ``very happy the tube was out,'' said Dr. Patricia Murray, an infectious disease specialist. ``She said she'd come out and wave to you but she's not in her balcony attire,'' the doctor said. About 80 reporters and camera crew members, along with some 100 St. Johns employees, jammed the hospital courtyard to hear the latest reports on Miss Taylor. Miss Taylor has had back troubles since she fell off a horse during filming in 1945 of ``National Velvet.'' She had to undergo a tracheotomy during a bout with pneumonia in 1961 that nearly killed her. In 1983 she acknowledged a 35-year addiction to sleeping pills and painkillers, and her weight has been up and down over the years. In response to persistent rumors about AIDS and other illnesses, Weintraub said there was ``no suggestion of either cancer or infections commonly seen in AIDS.'' The actress had issued a statement earlier denying she has AIDS. Weintraub said the actress, hospitalized since April 9, remained in intensive care. ``She is in serious condition. She is not out of the woods,'' he said. With her were her four children from three marriages, Maria Burton-Carson, Liza Todd-Tivey and Christopher and Michael Wilding. The hospital released a statement on Miss Taylor's behalf thanking fans and friends for their cards and letters.
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