This content was created by Dennis Prager. This content was uploaded by Dennis Prager. This is a YouTube video titled "Latest Dennis Prager Health Update!" (created 2025-02-15 UTC) providing a health update about Dennis Prager after a fall on November 12 that caused an incomplete spinal cord injury at C3–C4. The speakers are an unnamed presenter (labeled SPEAKER A) and David Prager (Dennis’s son). They summarize Dennis’s hospitalization and ICU care, note there was no brain injury, describe that he was on a ventilator but can now eat, drink, and speak, and explain he currently lacks movement below the shoulders and is undergoing rehabilitation with cautious optimism about recovery over the coming months. The update emphasizes Dennis’s gratitude, family and community support, PragerU’s ongoing work, and includes a request for donations in Dennis’s name. The content is an informational health/update video (English).
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And some of you may have heard that Dennis had a very serious injury. It happened on November 12th, and we wanted to just take a moment to remind you what happened, share some of the details with you, and also share with you some pretty optimistic news that we have today. And so, um, looking forward to having you tune into this. Um, just briefly for those who are hearing about Dennis's injury for the first time, Dennis fell down at his house on November 12th and he hit his head. Prior to the fall, Dennis has had two major surgeries on his back. He had a fusion surgery which really gave his back a pretty stiff situation. And so when he fell down, he hit his head, and while nothing actually happened to his brain, his spinal cord was injured. It was not severed, but it was injured, and it was injured at the top of his spinal cord at the area of C3 and C4 that also controls his diaphragm. And so it was a pretty scary situation. I remember talking to David that same day, not really knowing what's going to happen. And thankfully, we first knew that nothing happened to his brain. And so Dennis, to this day, remains Dennis. But he was immediately brought into ICU and he was under care for several weeks in the hospital as the goal was to get him to regain function of his breathing, and we've seen some promising incremental improvement. Um, he cannot move from the shoulders and below, and he's still working on physical therapy. And we hope that with the reduction of the inflammation, with time passing, as well as with all the technology that some of the doctors are bringing to the family, we'll continue to see some improvement. And so that is basically what has happened a few weeks ago. And David is here to share Dennis's condition currently and how he's doing.
So he is a lot, a lot of good, good movement. If you're hearing this for the first time, obviously all you hear is bad news, but we've had the ability of having perspective, number one, of the fact that, like you said, he's had no brain injury. The people that have visited him and are hearing him talk now, and he's talking very consistently, he has one goal, that's to get back to all of us and to talk to the world again. He is talking a lot to people in the, in the rehab facility that he's at right now. He's all there, he's 100% there. When you hear him on the radio, you'll say he hasn't skipped a beat, that's for sure. And God willing, that'll be very soon. He's also eating now, he's drinking now. I mean, these are actually sound like small steps, but they're major steps in terms of recovery. So those are all good things. Like you said, it's an incomplete injury, meaning the spinal cord wasn't severed, meaning that there's a lot of chance for further recovery. The doctors that he's with such phenomenal doctors. We haven't— couldn't say that the entire experience, but anybody that's had healthcare experience knows that you, you rarely say that you're thrilled with your medical team. We are, and they're giving great advice, and they're saying that given the fact that it was an incomplete injury, we can only find out really 6 months and beyond where he will— where he will be long term. But we know that long term he will be back on the radio, back doing fireside chats, doing what he does best. And influencing the world.
I would want to add that the reason we're so focused on how Dennis is now able to drink and eat and speak is because for the first few weeks when Dennis was on a breathing machine, he could not do that. And so that was obviously very difficult for Dennis. One of the things I asked Dennis a couple of weeks ago when I was with him, I said, Dennis, now that you can talk, how has it been being in your head for several weeks. Like, what is it like just being in Dennis's head? And he said it was obviously very difficult because he has a lot of thoughts. But what is amazing to me when you sit with Dennis is that he is so grateful. I mean, I was thinking to myself, a situation like this where he's laying down for so long, he couldn't talk for many weeks, and all Dennis can talk about is how grateful he is. First of all, how grateful he is to Sue Prager, his wife. Secondly, how grateful he is to his son, to you, to Aaron, to the community, to his best friends. People are showing up constantly and spending a lot of time with him. As you said, patients need advocates at the hospital, and so Dennis has had advocates around the clock, and he is so aware and so grateful. And I think all of this gratitude is really what's helping produce these miracles that we're seeing in his recovery.
Yes.
You know, I'm sure God's helping, and we've been— we have been bombarding God with prayers. And so that has been the plan, that we'll continue to bring prayers from all over the world for Dennis. But it is a big deal that now he's not as reliant on the breathing machines so that he can actually drink and start eating solid food and, and really be able to talk. And, and what Dennis said to me is that he can already see himself broadcasting again. And he has a lot of thoughts, and he's starting to look into different ways to dictate the remainder of his books so that we can actually get the final book of the Torah series that he's been working on. And so, you know, he has a clear vision for his recovery. He has clear vision for coming back to us. And I think it's so amazing to watch your dad, to watch Dennis Prager, to go through this situation and learn so much about how he handles this kind of fight. You know, he is such a fighter. He just— he still has his routine. He's like, "Okay, you know, when is the hairdresser coming in?" You know, he's so, so focused on making sure that his hair is cut clean, that he got his shave, that he looks presentable. He's not quite wearing a tie.
Or smoking cigars.
Or smoking cigars.
That will be the final step.
But he is drinking his iced coffees and the things that he enjoys. To see, yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, to see that he crossed that precipice is a huge deal. And you're right, he's very grateful. Try to remind him of, I throw back a lot of his famous lines in his face to make sure he remembers them, which is hard to do sometimes. So, you know, reminding him that, you know, it's not about being optimistic or pessimistic long-term, it's about fighting.
Yeah.
You know, which is like, oh yeah, I did say that a few times over the last few years. So he is getting all the news that's coming out of the world. So he's fully up to speed. And, uh, you know, he'll, he'll still correct my grammar, so I know that that's still happening. So yeah, it's definitely him.
Yeah, you know, and the other thing is he wants us to keep fighting. You know, when I go and visit, and David and, and the rest of us here at PragerU, he is so encouraged by the fact that PragerU is not stopping, but in fact we're growing. It's, it's very encouraging to him. It's encouraging to him to know that you're still tuning in, uh, that you're still supporting the mission. The mission of PragerU has been so much greater than Dennis. I think we all recognize that, as does Dennis. And as he plans to come back at the capacity that he could come back, he wants to make sure that this enterprise continues to grow. And so, you know, I'd love to take this opportunity to say many of you are asking, well, what can we do? Can we send flowers? Can we send chocolates? Well, really what you can do is help us keep going. You know, if there are programs here that we, that we have impressed you with and you would like us to continue investing in, that is a way that you can donate in the name of Dennis Prager, and we will go and share that with him, and we will let him know that none of us are giving up. He's not giving up on his recovery. We're not giving up on America. In fact, America, I think, is in a— in some ways a better place than where— that's what Dennis says when you ask him now. Dennis, last year, if you would have asked Dennis, Dennis Dennis, how are you feeling? How are you doing? He would say, I'm feeling and doing better than my country. A few weeks ago when we would ask Dennis, how are you doing, Dennis? He would say, well, actually my country is doing better than me. And you know, it's sad and very Dennis to hear that from him, but it's also, I think, very encouraging to him to know that we keep the wisdom that we've received from him and we continue to bring it to our country and we continue to fight, you know, in the name of goodness, which is what he always said.
Well, I'd say two things. You know, he said that, you know, people think we're entering this golden age of conservatism here. Well, the seeds of that golden age started in the dark ages. And if you don't keep fighting when it's the golden ages, it will come back to the dark ages again. We've seen that happen before. And I would also say that we've spent years, you spent years building PragerU in the instance that Dennis isn't always around. And it's grown regardless of that. He's the beating heart of PragerU, but PragerU continues to grow without him here.
Yeah, well, I feel very lucky that I still have Dennis to lean on for his wisdom and be able to visit, and his heart is beating strong. But I'd love to be able to continue to show him that none of us are giving up.
Yeah.
And so thank you for all your support. I hope that this was clarifying and encouraging. We're encouraged by everything that is happening in our country right now, and we're just grateful for, for you for tuning in and for supporting us. And if you'd like to make a donation in the name of Dennis Prager this month, please go ahead and click the link.
