Chuck Colson in Critical Condition After Brain Surgery

April 4, 2012

Evangelical leader and prison ministry founder Chuck Colson is in critical condition after undergoing surgery over the weekend following a brain hemorrhage, CNN reports. Colson, 80, was speaking Friday at a conference in D.C. when his speech became garbled and he had to sit down, witnesses said. He was taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where he "underwent surgery on Saturday morning to remove a pool of clotted blood on the surface of his brain," according to a statement from his publicist. "Colson is listed in critical condition at this point but has shown some early signs of potential for recovery." Prison Fellowship CEO Jim Liske, who visited Colson in the hospital Tuesday, said: "Chuck is resting comfortably, and his family is with him. ... I was encouraged to see that as we prayed, Chuck was responsive." Colson founded Prison Fellowship in 1976, shortly after serving a seven-month prison sentence for charges stemming from the 1972 Watergate scandal.