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Jimmy Draper released from hospital

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)–James T. (Jimmy) Draper Jr. was released from the hospital Thursday, June 11, and is continuing his recovery from strep bacterial meningitis.

In an e-mail to Baptist Press June 12, Draper wrote, “Got home from the hospital yesterday after 6 days in ICU and 2 days in progressive care. I will have nurses come twice a day for two weeks.

“Please thank the people for their prayers and assure them of my prayers for the convention in Louisville,” Draper wrote, referencing the Southern Baptist Convention’s June 23-24 annual meeting. “This will be the first convention I’ve missed in 40 years.”

Draper was hospitalized at Baylor Regional Medical Center in Grapevine, Texas, when he became unresponsive following a myelogram June 3 at an outpatient clinic in Fort Worth, Texas. After a preliminary diagnosis of an allergic chemical reaction, doctors determined that strep bacterial meningitis had entered his bloodstream during the procedure.

Draper was president of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1991-2006 and president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 1982-84. Prior to his service at LifeWay, Draper was the longtime pastor of the Fort Worth-area First Baptist Church in Euless.

On June 9, Draper’s wife Carol Ann described her husband’s recovery as “a miraculous turnaround.”
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Art Toalston is editor of Baptist Press.

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