Joan Rivers Still in Critical Condition; Comedienne Made Death Jokes before Surgery

Comedienne Joan Rivers, who was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital on Thursday following complications during a minor throat procedure, reportedly spoke about her own mortality before the surgery.

The 81-year-old had hinted about death hardly 12 hours before she stopped breathing during a throat surgery, which forced doctors to put her in a medically-induced coma.

"She did a joke onstage, she goes, 'I'm 81 -- I could go at any moment. I could fall over right here and you all could say, 'I was there!'" Shade Rupe who attended the Wednesday night show at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, told Mercury News.

Joan remains on life support, and her daughter Melissa Rivers released a statement saying, "We are keeping our fingers crossed." She also thanked fans for their support, and urged them to keep Rivers in their prayers.

"My mother would be so touched by the tributes and prayers that we have received from around the world. Her condition remains serious but she is receiving the best treatment and care possible. We ask that you continue to keep her in your thoughts as we pray for her recovery," Melissa said in a statement cited by Us Magazine.

Meanwhile, many close to the family think that Melissa is yet to come to terms with the seriousness of her mother's health. "[Melissa] still thinks everything is going to be OK. She is refusing to admit that a world might exist without her mother in it," a source close to the family told the NY Daily News. "Others that are close to Joan are starting to realise that the outcome they want is very unlikely."

Joan has never been one to shy away from speaking her mind, and in early August, the talk show host sparked controversy when she said that Palestinians "deserve to be dead."

Talking about the increasing number of Palestinians being killed in the Israeli-Gaza crisis, Joan said the ones who were dead deserved to die and called them idiots with low IQs.

"Good. Good. When you declare war, you declare war. They started it. We now don't count who's dead. You're dead, you deserve to be dead. Don't you dare make me feel bad about that," she told TMZ. "They were told to get out. They didn't get out. You don't get out, you are an idiot. At least the ones that were killed were the ones with low IQs."