Comedian and E! Fashion Police star Joan Rivers was rushed to the hospital in New York City yesterday afternoon after she stopped breathing during a surgery on her throat.
Rivers, 81, was undergoing a throat procedure in a clinic when she stopped breathing. She was rushed to Mount Sinai hospital in New York where authorities said she’s in critical condition.
After her heart stopped beating during surgery, an emergency call was placed to 911 and the caller said, “We have somebody in either cardiac or respiratory arrest.”
Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, issued a statement Thursday night after arriving at the hospital following a flight from Los Angeles.
“I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support for my mother. She is resting comfortably and is with our family. We ask that you continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers,” she said.
Rivers who had a show on wednesday was reported to be in perfect health according to one of her audience Micheal Lucas.
Michael Lucas, who was in the audience for Rivers’ show at New York’s Beechman Theater Wednesday night, told CNN that she joked about death.
“She said, ‘You know I’m 81 years old, and I could drop dead at any moment and you would be so lucky because you will have a story to tell your friends for the rest of your life,'” Lucas said. “Then she mimicked people talking about what it was like to see her drop dead on stage.”
Rivers was in fine form, he said. “There was no sign (Wednesday) night that she was declining. Her show was over an hour long and she never stumbled or even paused to catch her breath.”
Rivers has been open about her health issues, She was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2002 after a fall.
She admitted to not being as healthy as she could be.
“We’re just not going to be sad about this,” Rivers said during the episode. “We’re gonna do jokes and be up until we know.