Barbara Bush’s Failing Health; Says She Won’t Seek Further Treatment

Barbara Bush, one of the most popular members of her famous family, has decided to stop seeking medical treatment to prolong her life, a spokesman said on Sunday.

According to the Associated Press, “Following a recent series of hospitalizations, and after consulting her family and doctors, Mrs. Bush, now age 92, has decided not to seek additional medical treatment and will instead focus on comfort care.” spokesman Jim McGrath said Sunday in a news release. He also stated,

“It will not surprise those who know her that Barbara Bush has been a rock in the face of her failing health, worrying not for herself — thanks to her abiding faith — but for others. She is surrounded by a family she adores and appreciates the many kind messages and especially the prayers she is receiving,”

With her life relatively private, many were not aware of her health issues expect when publicized by media outlets, most recently on Good Friday when she was hospitalized for COPD and congestive heart failure. She was doing better and had been released earlier this past week, but started to get worse in the past couple of days.

In her time in the spotlight, and with a love for literature, she founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and wrote two autobiographies, plus two books in the voices of family dogs, C. Fred and Millie. Proceeds from the books benefited adult and family literacy programs. The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy began during her White House years with the goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged Americans by boosting literacy among parents and their children. The foundation partners with local programs and had awarded more than $40 million as of 2014 to create or expand more than 1,500 literacy programs nationwide.