Larry King 'continues to improve' while hospitalized with COVID-19, says family
Larry King continues to be hospitalized amid his battle with COVID-19, but he’s out of ICU and breathing on his own.
“Larry continues to improve,” the King family said in a statement obtained by Yahoo Entertainment on Tuesday. “He and his sons thank everyone for the outpouring of support and can't wait to get him home.”
The statement went on to say, “They also thank the medical workers and staff at Cedars-Sinai and hospitals elsewhere who are providing care to so many people under extraordinary circumstances.”
On Monday, David Theall, a spokesperson for King’s production company Ora Media, told the Associated Press that the 87-year-old broadcasting legend was moved from intensive care on Sunday and is breathing on his own.
King was even able to have a video phone call with his three sons — Larry Jr., Cannon and Chance.
King’s been in the Los Angeles hospital for about 11 days, according to NBC News. Theall said the journalist was moved to ICU on New Year’s Eve. While he was receiving oxygen, he’s now breathing on his own.
NBC News also reported that that King believes he contracted the virus from a health care worker who visited his home. One of King’s sons also contracted the virus.
King, who retired from CNN in 2010 after hosting Larry King Live for 25 years and has been hosting Ora TV’s Larry King Now since 2012, has had a series of health problems throughout his life. He had a major heart attack in 1987, resulting in quintuple-bypass surgery. He’s since battled heart disease, lung cancer, prostate cancer and also has diabetes.
In 2019, King was in a coma for weeks after suffering a stroke and then had a heart procedure right after.
The year was rough in other ways with King divorcing his wife of nearly 22 years, Shawn Southwick King, with whom he shares two children. (She was the seventh Mrs. Larry King.)
King with his two youngest children, Chance and Cannon:
In 2020, King endured further emotional distress after two of his older children died within weeks of each other. His 65-year-old son Andy King had a heart attack, and then his daughter Chaia King, 51, died from lung cancer.
This story was originally published on Jan. 4, 2021, at 10:11 a.m. and has been updated to include new information.
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