Growth Discovered on Polhill’s Vocal Cords; Biopsy Planned

Freed hostage Robert Polhill has a growth on his vocal cords, a doctor disclosed Friday, as a silent Polhill said through his wife that he hoped soon to be welcoming others home from captivity in Lebanon.

Polhill, in a statement read for him by his Lebanese-born wife, Firyal, said he and his family hoped his release Sunday marked “the beginning of the end to the hostage situation.”

A biopsy is to be performed soon, probably early next week, to see if the growth on his vocal cords is a tumor or an infection, said Dr. Russ Zajtchuk, deputy commander of clinical services at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where Polhill is being treated.

Polhill’s wife described him as “physically weak but mentally very, very strong.”

She read his statement and answered questions outside the hospital where her husband arrived Thursday for a stay that doctors said could last as long as three to four weeks. After his release, Polhill spent three days in another Army hospital in Wiesbaden, West Germany, before being flown to Washington.

“I regret that, at the moment, I am unable to thank you more directly and personally,” Polhill said in the prepared statement. “But my voice decided to go on vacation before I did.

“However, I do want you to know how very much I appreciate the warmth and sincerity of your welcome and the support you’ve given my wife and family, who join me in hoping that this is the beginning of the end to the hostage situation.

“I am, happily, now free to join you in your continued support for the loved ones of those who remain in captivity and in welcoming the hostages home in the very near future. Let’s show the world that we, the American people, want to leave the past behind us, look positively to the future and, once and for all, close the file on the hostage issue.”

Seventeen Western hostages, seven of them Americans, are still held in the Middle East.