Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Jerry Falwell was found unresponsive by Ron Godwin, Liberty University‘s executive vice president, around 10:45 am ET. He was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital where “CPR efforts were unsuccessful”. As of 2:10 pm ET, during a live press conference, a doctor for the hospital confirmed that Falwell had died of “cardiac arrhythmia, or sudden cardiac death”. Godwin had eaten breakfast with Falwell earlier and stated that he seemed “fine, business as usual.”
Falwell, a controversial minister, suffered from two health conditions in 2005, and had a history of heart illness. Falwell was a leader of the Christian right and was perhaps most well-known for his controversial claims against “liberals”, homosexuals, and Muslims.