Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren is expected to fully recover from injuries he suffered to his eyes while gardening, a church official said Thursday.
The "Purpose Driven Life" author got poison in his eyes while tending to two firestick plants in his yard Monday, church spokesman A. Larry Ross said.
As Warren took a break to wipe his brow, he took off a glove and some of the milky resin from the leaves got into his eyes, Ross said.
"He experienced excruciating pain -- on a scale of one to 10 it was a 12,'' Ross said.
Warren's wife called 911 and Warren was rushed to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo where he was kept overnight and released Tuesday, Ross said.
The pastor was given protective contact lenses that corrective eyesight patients often get as well as eye drops and ointment and is expected to make a full recovery, Ross said.
Warren took to Twitter Thursday to ask his followers to pray for him.
"My eyes were severely burned," Warren wrote. "Excruciating pain."
Warren had blocked off this month to write the church's fall curriculum for a series of instructional courses for Saddleback members, so other ministers have been handling services, Ross said.
