Phil Robertson 'battling many different things,' but 'sharp as ever' when it comes to the Bible, son says
Willie Robertson has shared details surrounding the health of his father, Phil Robertson, revealing that the “Duck Dynasty” patriarch is “battling many different things at the same time," but is "sharp as ever" when it comes to his knowledge of the Bible.
"He's got a blood disorder, and then he's got the mental issues that could be early [on-set] Alzheimer's … and probably some ministrokes because of his blood," Willie told Fox News Digital of his 78-year-old father.
"And so, it could be some stroke stuff happening, that has happened. So, we're still checking on all that. But then he also has a back issue, he's fractured his back and that's where the pain’s at. So, he's kind of battling many different things at the same time."
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Willie said his father's back pain is the biggest issue impacting his overall well-being, “especially in any situation where he's getting up from the seated position or laying position, [it's] super stressful for him, too, and very painful.”
"We've got several other things we're looking at, trying some different medications. And, again, it's a little bit more difficult with the pain issue, with the back, because that seems to dominate a lot of just his day-to-day is just from that. So we’re trying to get his back fixed up so that he can at least move around. We're trying several different things. We've seen many doctors and [are] just getting the best care we can and best things that we can, and trying to figure out what's next."
The blood disorder is causing his father to produce "too much blood," making it thicker and potentially leading to ministrokes, Willie said.
"It's hard with the mental stuff," Willie said. "It's hard to determine exactly what these causes are, especially with early signs, it's hard to determine brain damage from stroke or is that Alzheimer's?"
He added, "I know that's in their family. Other siblings he has have had some of the same type of things as well. This has happened with just about all of his siblings that have passed away."
The “Duck Dynasty” star also has an "enlarged spleen, which could be pushing on the stomach, and which could cause some of the appetite things."
Earlier in December, Phil Robertson’s son, Jase, revealed the state of his father’s health on an episode of the “Unashamed with the Robertson Family” podcast, prompting a flood of support on social media.
“Phil’s not doing well. We were trying to figure out the diagnosis, but according to the doctors, they are sure that he has some sort of blood disease causing all kinds of problems,” Jase said.
Despite his diagnosis, Jase said his father is hoping to return to hosting the podcast: “I’m like, ‘Well, Phil, you can barely walk around without crying out in pain, and your memory is not what it once was,’” said Jase. “He’s like, ‘Tell me about it.’”
Robertson and his family became household names through the hit A&E reality show "Duck Dynasty,” which ran from 2012 to 2017. The show chronicled the lives of the Robertsons and their business, Duck Commander, while highlighting the family’s faith and conservative values.
In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Phil Robertson reflected on how, in 2013, he was suspended from “Duck Dynasty” over his candid comments about homosexuality and religion in a GQ profile. He was swiftly condemned as a bigot by LGBT activist groups, including The Human Rights Campaign and GLAAD.
“Five or six years ago, a guy came up and asked me, did I believe homosexual behavior was a sin,” Robertson told CP. “I quoted 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: ‘Don't be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the thieves, the greedy drunks, they won't inherit the Kingdom of God,' Robertson said, citing [Paul's letter] to the church at Corinth. ‘But you've been washed, you've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus,’” he added.
“I just simply quoted him a verse, a Bible verse, where God stated what it is,” he added. “So it took him two weeks to figure out all I did was quote a Bible verse. He asked me a question … and I just quoted [the Bible]. And when I quoted it, he took it and ran with it, because he thought I was just blowing smoke just off the top of my head.”
Though backlash from the secular media was swift, the father, grandfather and great-grandfather noted that as a result of his boldness, “a lot of good came forth.”
“We converted way more after that,” he said. “See what I'm saying? God works in mysterious ways.”
On a recent episode of "Unashamed," Jase shared that due to his health issues, his father is not "hungry at all" and has to "make himself eat."
"There's a couple of issues that we're trying to get to the bottom of, which is maybe where some of that's coming from. It could be the pain, but also with the blood disorder that has created some things that could be dealing with that as well," Willie said.
"I just got a message from him for me to bring him more food. He seems to like my cooking."
"I do hamburgers, I’ve done a couple crawfish dishes. I've done all kinds of things that I think he's always liked and eaten in the past, I don't know if it's as good as mom's, but, I'm doing my best," he said, adding that his father isn’t able to "normally do what he normally does for his food."
Still, the family patriarch is "as sharp as ever" when it comes to his faith and knowledge of the Bible, according to his son.
"He goes right back to that, and so we find those are things that seem to comfort him," Willie said. "He still quotes the Bible and still talks about his faith in God, so I think that's been comforting and something that he hasn't lost yet.
"He can't speak like he used to and teach his class, and so he’s kind of taking a break from that and his podcast and stuff. But it’s still strong and vital to him, he just can't always make the words and thoughts that I think that he wants to make."
Willie continued: "His faith is such an important part of his life. And life is short and temporary, and he's always known that. And we've always had such an eternal perspective, really, on life itself. We're not sad, we realize this is, you know, these are things that happen on this Earth, and we deal with them."
