The 98-year-old leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is dealing with “a small challenge with my balance” and occasionally uses a walker or a wheelchair, Russell Nelson said on Facebook Tuesday.
Mr. Nelson, who helped develop a heart-lung machine used to support the first open-heart surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass, was appointed a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, its governing council, in 1984, serving there until January 2018 when he succeeded LDS Church President Thomas Monson, who died at age 90.
In a little more than five years as leader of the 17 million-member church, Mr. Nelson announced the construction of 133 temples where sacred ceremonies are performed. He led the dedication of the refurbished Washington, D.C., Temple in Kensington, Maryland, last August.
Mr. Nelson, the group’s oldest president and its longest-living apostle, said, “You may have heard a rumor that someone saw me somewhere using a walker or a wheelchair. Well, it’s not a rumor.”
He added, “Gratefully, my heart is good, my spirit is strong as are my legs, and my brain still works. … Little challenges with balance should be the least of our worries.”
Last October, Mr. Nelson surprised church members and observers by sitting at the podium as he addressed the group’s biannual General Conference. Noted for his previous athleticism and love of downhill skiing, Mr. Nelson acknowledged that he was one of those who “age on stage,” i.e., in public, and was grateful for the wheelchair’s help. He sat during his remarks at the April event as well, The Church News, an official publication, noted.
Mr. Nelson provided leadership through the COVID-19 pandemic and has worked toward racial reconciliation, forming friendships with leaders of the NAACP and recently receiving the 2023 Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize awarded by Morehouse College, a historically Black college in Atlanta.
The Washington Times has contacted the LDS Church for comment.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
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