Rick Warren hospitalized with eye injury

LAKE FOREST, Calif. (ABP) — Southern Baptist mega-church pastor and Purpose Driven Life author Rick Warren was recovering at home July 22 after being hospitalized overnight with eye injuries he suffered while gardening.

A spokesperson for Warren said the 56-year-old pastor, who relaxes by horticulture and gardening, was pruning shrubs Monday at his home. His plants include firestick, a succulent with a sap that can cause skin irritation and temporary blindness if it comes into contact with the skin or eyes.

Rick Warren

Kristin Cole of A. Larry Ross Communications said Warren was wearing gloves, but still got some sap on his hands when he removed his gloves that was transferred to his eyes.

Warren sent out a Twitter message Tuesday morning that circulated quickly: "My eyes were severely burned by a toxic poison. Hospitalized Mon[day]. Excruciating pain. Now home. Pray my sight loss is restored."

Cole said the pain was so severe that when Warren's wife, Kay, came outside to check on him, he could not tell her what happened to him. She called 911, and he was taken by ambulance to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo, Calif., near his home.

He was treated by an eye specialist, kept overnight and fitted with protective contact lenses like those used with patients following LASIK surgery.

"He didn't fully lose eyesight," Cole said. "He had some temporary vision loss because there was some damage to the cornea."

"While there is still discomfort, the doctor expects a full 100-percent recovery," she said.

Cole said Warren has been on a writing schedule working on fall curriculum for Saddleback Community Church and is not part on a preaching schedule, so he will have some time to recover.

Warren tweeted again Tuesday assuring followers "I a NOT blind" and thanking them for their prayers. "May God use this pain for His Glory," Warren wrote, citing Romans 8:28.

–Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.