BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards is back in the hospital with breathing trouble, family sources confirm.
Edwards, 93, was rushed Tuesday night to Ochsner Baton Rouge hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with pneumonia in both lungs.
Doctors are giving him antibiotics to contain and treat Edwards’ pneumonia, according to his wife, Trina Edwards.
“He’s a fighter, and we all know that” current Gov. John Bel Edwards — no relation — said Wednesday on his monthly call-in radio show. “I encourage people to pray for him and his recovery.”
The former governor had recently spent three days at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge. He was released Sunday after doctors diagnosed him with rhinovirus, the virus that causes the common cold.
Edwards tested negative for COVID-19 early Wednesday. He previously tested negative late last week, a family spokesman said.
Edwards, a Democrat, served four terms as Louisiana governor — from 1972 to 1980, 1984 to 1988 and 1992 to 1996.