Joan Rivers ‘Resting Comfortably’ After Apparent Cardiac Arrest During Surgery

Posted 9:06 AM, August 28, 2014, by CNN Wire, Updated at 06:38pm, August 28, 2014

Comedian Joan Rivers attends Global Green USA's 11th Annual Pre-Oscar party at Avalon on February 26, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for GLOBAL GREEN USA)

Comedian Joan Rivers was in a New York hospital after apparently suffering cardiac and respiratory arrest during a procedure at a medical clinic Thursday.

A law enforcement official told CNN that Rivers stopped breathing during throat surgery. Rivers, 81, was taken by ambulance in critical condition to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

Her daughter, Melissa Rivers, and her grandson Cooper, landed in New York Thursday night after a flight from Los Angeles, a source close to the family told CNN. They were en route from the airport to the hospital in Manhattan, the source said.

“I want to thank everyone for the overwhelming love and support for my mother,” Melissa Rivers said in statement. “She is resting comfortably and is with our family. We ask that you continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers.”

The clinic address given by a New York Fire Department spokesman is a building that houses an endoscopy clinic where doctors perform minor procedures on patients. The clinic is a mile away from the hospital.

“This morning, Joan Rivers was taken to the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, where she is being attended to,” hospital spokesman Sid Dinsay said in a statement. “Her family wants to thank everybody for their outpouring of love and support. We will provide an update on her condition as it becomes available.”

Rivers had been scheduled to perform her comedy act at the Count Basie Theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, Friday night.

In 2013, Rivers allowed cameras to record a health scare for her and her daughter’s reality show, “Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?”

Rivers said on the show that doctors found a spot on an X-ray after she had a persistent cough.
“We’re just not going to be sad about this,” Rivers said during the episode. “We’re gonna do jokes and be up until we know. That’s how I deal with things. I’m not just gonna sit around the next couple of days and go crazy.”

Rivers has been open about her health issues. She was diagnosed with osteoporosis in 2002 after a fall down some stairs left her with broken bones, and she became an advocate for screenings for women.

She also admitted to not being as healthy as she could be.

“I try not to be, but I’m a terrible eater,” she said. “I wish I could say I eat super-healthy, but I don’t. I love junk food — it should be its own food group — so I help my bones with supplements and medicine.”