Harold Camping, the Doomsday radio preacher who sparked international media attention by predicting the end of the world last month, has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke at his Alameda home Thursday night.
The 89-year-old radio evangelist and president of the Oakland nonprofit Family Radio was taken by ambulance from his house Thursday night, a neighbor said, but his well-known, gravelly voice that led many believers to donate millions of dollars to his cause may never be the same.
“He had a stroke, it was on his right side,” said the neighbor, who declined to give her name but said she and her husband helped and comforted Camping’s wife, Shirley, as the drama unfolded Thursday night.
Her husband spoke again with Shirley Camping on Friday. “His speech appears to be a little bit slurred but otherwise he’s OK,” the neighbor said. “(Shirley) said he was doing good “… and the only thing that’s affected is his speech.”
Camping received widespread attention for his most recent prediction that the world would end on May 21.
When that didn’t happen, he moved the date to Oct. 21.