The "Duck Dynasty" patriarch is enduring serious ailments, including a blood illness and Alzheimer's.
An announcement early this month of Phil Robertson's medical issues was followed by a massive outpouring of support over social media, including a multitude of prayers. On a recent episode of the Unashamed with The Robertson Family podcast, his son Jase shared news of improvement, thanking people for reaching out with comments and especially those prayers.
"He had a little reprieve from the pain, and I really feel like it was the prayers, because for months he's been on a downward decline."
It was on an earlier episode of the aforementioned podcast at the beginning of this month - which Phil is currently on hiatus from - that Jase first mentioned his 78-year-old father is suffering both from a painful blood disease as well as the early stages of Alzheimer's. He then added that the doctors treating his father are in agreement: "There's no curing what he has."
Phil Robertson shot to fame on A&E's hit reality show Duck Dynasty from 2012 - 2017. As Christian Film Blog has previously reported - here, here, and here - the Louisiana native and his family are committed Believers who speak out consistently about their faith. That includes his oldest son Al, a former pastor of 22 years, who on the podcast addressed the issue of his father's health and ultimate mortality.
"Nobody likes getting bad news about someone they love, but dad has spent his whole Christian life saying, 'The Resurrection looms large,' because we're not designed to be here forever: we're going to be in heaven forever."
The family has not yet shared details of the long-term prognosis for Phil, in terms of a timetable, but Jase states that they and the physicians involved are "trying to do a lot of things to figure out how to make him more comfortable and maybe help with his memory." We will bring you updates as we get them and ask, in the meantime, that you join us in lifting Phil Robertson and his loved ones up in prayer at this challenging time.