Jamie Foxx has finally shared the “mystery illness” that had him hospitalized in 2023.
The comedian and Academy Award winner said that he had a stroke that nearly killed him, People magazine reported.
Foxx shared the news in his Netflix special “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was.”
The medical emergency happened on April 11, 2023, while he was on the set of his Netflix film “Back in Action” which was filming in Atlanta,
He said he had a “bad headache,” WSB reported. He asked someone for an aspirin, but “Before I could get the aspirin [clicks his fingers] I went out. I don’t remember 20 days,” Foxx said, according to People magazine.
Foxx first went to a doctor in Atlanta who, he said, gave him a cortisone shot and sent him home. but his sister Diedra Dixon “knew something was wrong.” She drove around looking for a hospital and found Piedmont Hospital.
“She didn’t know anything about Piedmont Hospital, but she had a hunch that some angels [were] in there,” he said.
It wasn’t just a headache, instead, it was a brain bleed that led to a stroke. The doctor told Dixon that if surgery wasn’t performed quickly, he would possibly die.
Foxx described what being unconscious felt like.
“Your life doesn’t flash before your face. It was kind of oddly peaceful,” he said. “I saw the tunnel. I didn’t see the light. I was in that tunnel, though. It was hot in that tunnel. [Expletive], am I going to the wrong place in this [expletive]? Because I looked at the end of the tunnel, and I thought I saw the devil like, ‘Come on.’ "
He said he woke up on May 4 in a wheelchair, not able to walk, and wondering why he was in the chair.
Foxx was eventually transferred to Chicago to undergo rehab, CNN reported.
All that came out when he was hospitalized was that he had a “medical complication” but at the time no specifics were given.
He gave a nugget of information on social media, saying in an Instagram video, “I know a lot of people were waiting or wanting to hear updates but to be honest with you, I just didn’t want you to see me like that, man. I want you to see me laughing, having a good time, partying, cracking a joke, doing a movie, television show. I didn’t want you to see me with tubes running out of me and trying to figure out if I was gonna make it through.”
Piedmont Atlanta Hospital released a statement to WSB about Foxx’s health battle and the care the hospital provided, which read, “Piedmont is delighted to see Jamie Foxx back on stage and in good health. We are grateful to our dedicated care team who played a role in helping him return to entertaining and doing what he loves.”
“Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was.” was recorded earlier this year, just “400 yards” from Piedmont Hospital, Foxx said during the special.
“Y’all saved my life just 400 yards away from here in Piedmont Hospital. They put me back together again,” People magazine reported.
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