Weintraub Almost Died After Surgery
By WENNMonday, July 12, 2010
Movie mogul JERRY WEINTRAUB “came back” from the dead after an infection from a back operation left him fighting for his life last year (09).
The Ocean’s Eleven producer had surgery for a spine problem but contracted a deadly infection.
Weintraub had turned his home into a hospital ward when doctors told him he wouldn’t survive the illness, and even said a tearful goodbye to his loved ones as his condition deteriorated.
He tells The Sunday Times Magazine, “No one knew what it was. I’ve heard eight different stories - it was staph, it wasn’t staph (staphylococcus bacteria) - whatever it was, it was killing me. Literally eating my body. I had at least five or six doctors taking care of me. I had an IV in me for 16 weeks. A drip to keep me alive.
“I’d always been afraid of death… (but) I came to a place when I wasn’t scared any more. I brought my family in to say goodbye. Everyone was standing next to the bed - the rabbi, the doctor, (girlfriend) Susie, (wife) Jane, my kids - I thought that was it. I was finished. I looked awful and didn’t want to see anybody. George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon all came to visit and I told Susie not to let anyone in. Clooney snuck in behind the florist…”
Weintraub is adamant he had an out-of-body experience as his life ebbed away, but he’s convinced he was brought back from the brink by the screams of a rabbi.
He says, “I felt myself float out the window. I swear to you, I was out the window. The rabbi was screaming at the top of his lungs, ‘You can’t have him. He can’t go now.’ And the next thing I knew, I woke up. Now I don’t know what happened, but I had an experience. I came back.”
