GOTTI NEARLY DIED IN CELL

By MURRARY WEISS
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John Gotti

October 15, 2001 -- REPUTED mob boss John Gotti collapsed in his prison-hospital cell last week and lay bleeding for hours before prison officials discovered his nearly lifeless body.
Only an emergency transfusion of pints of blood saved the Dapper Don after federal officials had him rushed to a private hospital in nearby downtown Springfield, Mo., a law-enforcement source said.

The steely Gotti, who is battling the final stages of terminal throat and neck cancer, rallied inside St. John's Medical Center, where he remained surrounded by heavily armed guards.

Gotti, the 60-year-old reputed head of the Gambino crime family, was scheduled to be moved back to the federal prison hospital last night, the source said.

His latest brush with death came Wednesday, when a blood clot apparently caused him to collapse in his cell. He lay on the floor until a prison attendant discovered him during a routine check.

Once he was treated at the St. John's complex, the fragile Gotti stabilized and began quickly demonstrating his old powerhouse spark.

Under law, Gotti can go to court to try to force the feds to keep him in a private hospital. But sources say he again made it clear he wants no favors from prison and FBI officials, who he believes have kept him under draconian conditions for years to break his spirit.

"His attitude is that you do not ask for anything," another law-enforcement source said. "He won't allow it, and he won't allow anyone in his family to do it."

Despite his rebound over the weekend, Gotti's fight with cancer is taking its toll, and his body is betraying his iron will.

"He is still John Gotti, the person everyone knows," another source said. "But he does not look like the John Gotti of old."

"How much can anybody take?" another law-enforcement source said, recalling last spring, when physicians predicted Gotti's days were numbered.

Prison officials, who routinely decline discussing inmates, were not immediately available yesterday for comment.