Coleman Young’s Condition Critical

Former mayor Coleman Young lapsed into critical condition Monday, three weeks after being hospitalized for heart trouble and emphysema.

Coleman’s condition was upgraded to fair on Aug. 14 after doctors said he no longer needed a ventilator to breathe. But the 79-year-old former mayor was relisted as critical Monday, said Detroit Medical Center spokeswoman Julie Nemeth.

This hospital stay is just the latest for Young, who was Detroit’s first black mayor.

A longtime cigarette smoker, Young was hospitalized several times for breathing problems and was released from Detroit Receiving Hospital in mid-July after four days of treatment for pneumonia in his upper right lung. Now doctors are fighting pneumonia in both lungs.