Judgment Day Predictor Harold Camping Suffers Stroke

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Marcio Jose Sanchez / AP

In this May 23, 2011 photo, Harold Camping speaks during a taping of his show Open Forum in Oakland, Calif.

He couldn’t have predicted this one. The 89-year-old radio evangelist is recovering after a stroke.

The alleged May 21, 2011 doomsday came without a bang, showering attention (and scrutiny) on the man behind the failed prediction. And while the preacher awaits the next leg of the Judgment Day journey, rumored to come in October, he’ll be recovering from a stroke on his right side.

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Harold Camping was hospitalized Thursday after the stroke and within hours was reported to be doing well. There was only one lingering issue, according to a neighbor in Alameda, Calif. “His speech appears to be a little bit slurred ,” the woman told the Oakland Tribune. This could prove particularly disastrous for the silver-tongued, booming radio broadcaster who used the airwaves to proclaim his messages of the impending rapture. Otherwise, the neighbor reported he was doing “OK,” as Camping’s Family Radio colleagues attempted to diffuse the buzz surrounding Camping’s health.

The Internet was awash with frenzy as Camping’s purported Judgment Day approached, so it’s understandable that in the wake of his stroke, the conspiracy theories continue to fly. One Christian News website even poses the question, “Is the Harold Camping stroke a sign of God’s wrath, or just a natural phenomenon?”

(MORE: How Camping Calculated Judgment Day)