The skydiving 41st President is spending his final days at home chained to a wheelchair and battling a crippling disease.
Gallant George H.W. Bush, who displayed his lust for life June 12 by making his eighth parachute jump to celebrate his 90th birthday, has since remained in seclusion at his compound in Kennebunkport.
Bush was unable to attend a White House function commemorating the 20th anniversary of AmeriCorps and instead celebrated by participating in a pledge ceremony at his Maine home.
Even his wife, Barbara, 89, quipped it appears his parachuting days may be over.
The former president suffers from vascular Parkinsonism, destroying the nerve cells in his legs. “You tell your legs to move and they don’t move,” he has said, adding it’s not painful.
“It’s strange but if you have to have some bad-sounding disease, this is a good one to get.”
But Dr. Jason Theodosakis, an arthritis expert from Arizona, believes otherwise: “Anytime someone becomes sedentary, the risk of dying increases but Parkinson’s usually doesn’t cause immediate medical problems of its own. The risk of falling increases.”
Bush also spent seven weeks in a hospital with a bronchitis-like cough. He was released in Jan. 2013.
Close pal Ron Kaufman told The National ENQUIRER that Bush “hates being sick. He’s more at home now than he used to be.”
Jokingly he added, “The folks that thought this bronchitis was the kiss of death for the guy — we were kinda shocked when he jumped out of a plane.”Health guru Dr. Gabe Mirkin studied pictures of Bush and determined that he may be suffering from dementia.
“Bush has an expression on his face that indicates he doesn’t know who Michelle Obama is. I think he has lost quality to his life and has only a short time to live.”
