Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is breathing on his own after being taken off a ventilator, his primary care physician, Dr. Maria Ryan, told Fox News. Ryan said he remains in critical but stable condition.
Ryan told Fox News correspondent Danamarie McNicholl that Giuliani began feeling ill after returning from a trip to Paris. His breathing deteriorated, she said, and he was hospitalized and placed on a ventilator when his condition turned critical.
Ryan said a priest was called to Giuliani’s bedside to perform last rites as his condition worsened. By Tuesday, doctors removed him from the ventilator, and Ryan said he was able to speak. “He’s a fighter — the way he was yesterday in such a critical condition, he did have a priest come anoint him,” she said. “This guy’s got 9 lives, today he’s doing much better.” Ryan said she expects a full recovery and that doctors will continue to monitor him closely.
In a video posted on X, spokesman Ted Goodman said Giuliani is “breathing on his own” and remains in “critical but stable condition.” A Giuliani spokesperson pointed to his history of respiratory problems after exposure at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which later led to a diagnosis of restrictive airway disease.
Giuliani, 81, has faced several health challenges in recent years. Authorities said he was seriously injured in a car crash in Manchester, New Hampshire, in August 2025 when the vehicle he was riding in was struck from behind on Interstate 93, leaving him with a fractured thoracic vertebra, multiple lacerations and other injuries. Fox News Digital reported he later returned to work and continued to appear publicly.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
