'Southern Charm' Star Patricia Altschul Shares Photo of Butler Michael Kelcourse After Spinal Cord Stroke
Patricia Altschul's butler Michael Kelcourse continues to have an 'indomitable spirit' as the [...]
Patricia Altschul's butler Michael Kelcourse continues to have an "indomitable spirit" as the Southern Charm star recovers from a stroke he suffered in February. The Bravo star, 80, gave an update on Kelcourse's condition on Instagram Monday, revealing her son, Whitney Sudler-Smith, had gotten to spend time with him that day.
"[Whitney] had a great visit with #michaelthebutler in Atlanta today," she wrote alongside a photo of Sudler-Smith kneeling beside Kelcourse, who is using a power wheelchair. In Sudler-Smith's own post of the photo, he called Kelcourse "a man of indomitable spirit," which Altschul echoed later in her caption. "He's got 'an indomitable spirit' and is working hard with his physical therapy," she said of her longtime employee. She encouraged fans to send messages to Kelcourse through CaringBridge as he continues to recover.
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Sudler-Smith, an executive producer on Southern Charm, announced in February that Kelcourse had been hospitalized after suffering an acute spinal cord stroke. "I am sorry to inform you that Michael Kelcourse, affectionately known as 'Michael The Butler', recently suffered an acute spinal cord infarction which is often called a 'spinal cord stroke,'" Sudler-Smith said in a statement at the time.
"Although this tragedy has caused significant nerve damage and impairment, with the help of the outstanding physicians at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, we are hopeful Michael will soon recover. Thank you for respecting Michael's privacy during this challenging time," he continued. Kelcourse was discharged from the hospital and moved into a transitional home in April.
Kelcourse has long been a favorite of Southern Charm fans, having first come to work for Altschul in 2004 when the socialite was looking for a butler for her estate in Oyster Bay, New York, two years after the death of husband Arthur Altschul. Altschul wrote in her book The Art of Southern Charm that she "moved with indecent speed" to hire Kelcourse after learning his previous employer had passed away, and the two quickly became close friends and companions over the years. Altschul called hiring Kelcourse the "best thing [she] could have done," praising him as "a consummate professional: smart, skilled, and with impeccable taste," a "killer" sense of humor and a talent for making the perfect cocktail.