Finally, Jamie Foxx is opening up about his medical emergency that left him fighting for his life back in 2023!
Many speculated but we were not certain until now.
Foxx, in his latest comedy special gets candid about the ‘medical emergency’ that almost killed him.
His “mystery illness” started with a headache.
On April 11, 2023, Foxx was hit with a bad headache and asked a friend for an aspirin. But before he was able to take it, he says he “went out.” He doesn’t remember the following 20 days, but Foxx says he was told by friends and family members that the first doctor he saw gave him a cortisone shot and sent him home. When his sister, Deidra Dixon, went to visit him she insisted he get further medical care because something didn’t seem right.
Dixon drove him to Piedmont Hospital, where another doctor speculated Foxx was having a brain bleed that led to a stroke. The doctor operated on Foxx in what the actor says was a near-death experience. “He may be able to make a full recovery, but it’s gonna be the worst year of his life,” Foxx tearfully recounts the doctor telling his sister.
When Foxx snapped back to reality 20 days later, he was in a rehabilitation center in Chicago and was confused to find himself in a wheelchair.
Foxx initially refused to participate in therapy to get better.
In an emotional retelling, Foxx remembers being dizzy, frustrated, and stubbornly resistant to both physical and mental therapy. “I’m Jamie Foxx. I don’t need nothing. I don’t want to see no therapist,” he says. “They say, ‘You got a second chance.’ I don’t want a second chance. What’s wrong with my first chance?”
Eventually, Foxx says, the rehab center sent in a nurse named Holly who pushed him to get out of bed and gain perspective on his situation. She reminded him that while he had the chance to get better, there were people who weren’t going to make it out of the facility he was in.
While Foxx addresses his stroke and the gravity of his medical condition, some details remain opaque, including what caused the event in the first place. Once in surgery, doctors were unable to find the brain bleed they had suspected was the source of the problem. Combined with Foxx’s severe and seemingly permanent memory loss surrounding the incident, he may never have a full picture of the health crisis that nearly killed him.
The Gamutt Blog 