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12 Celebs Who Made Miraculous Medical Recoveries
6 days ago
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"I just feel very blessed and very lucky to be upright and walk around and to live life."
Celebrities may appear picture-perfect on screen and on the red carpet but many stars have had their fair share of hardships. In fact, there are a few celebs that are lucky to still be working in Hollywood today because at one point, they almost lost their lives.
These stars experienced terrifying accidents and tragic health scares, leading to near-death experiences. While it may have been a very tumultuous time, they thankfully made a miraculous recovery with the help of their quick-thinking doctors and medical teams.
When Calls the Heart actress Mamie Laverock has made a miraculous recovery after experiencing two very serious medical emergencies . In May 2024, Mamie was hospitalized for a severe unnamed condition. Following two weeks of “extensive treatment,” Mamie “was escorted out of a secure unit of the hospital and taken up to a balcony walkway from which she fell five stories.” She endured “life-threatening injuries” that left her body “shattered” and underwent “multiple extensive surgeries,” causing “tremendous pain.”
Mamie is now on the road to recovery and two months into her healing journey, she has taken her first steps. She shared that she has been incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support along the way.
“Thank you so much. I don’t even know what to say. My heart is full,” she wrote. “Thank you again. I have no words to describe my gratitude. Love you guys. Thank you. MAMIE.”
In 2023, Madonna was found unconscious at her home after dealing with a serious bacterial infection. At the time, Madonna had been prepping for a tour, putting her body through strenuous activity while ignoring her symptoms. She ended up suffering from septic shock and was in the ICU for several days, battling the life threatening infection. While she did have to postpone her tour, thankfully, she’s made a full recovery.
“A year ago today, I had just come home from the hospital after surviving a life threatening illness, I could barely stand in my backyard holding one sparkler,” she wrote on Instagram on the Fourth of July. “I made a miraculous recovery and had an amazing year. Thank you God. Life is beautiful!”
Jeremy Renner was involved in a near-death snow plow accident on New Year’s Day in 2023. During the terrifying incident, Jeremy was towing his nephew’s car but the Sno-Cat he was driving started sliding sideways and then began to roll down a hill. In an effort to protect his nephew, Jeremy ended up being crushed by the machine.
He suffered over 30 broken bones, a collapsed lung, pierced liver and a contusion that left his left eye protruding out of his face. After many operations and physical therapy, Jeremy has now incredibly recovered from many of his injuries.
“I just feel very blessed and very lucky to be upright and walk around and to live life,” he told CNN . “I’m very, very clear. My life is really lean, if that makes sense. There’s no fat in my life anymore. I don’t have time for that. So, there’s something really beautiful about having that superpower.”
In 2018, Demi Lovato came close to death after overdosing on heroin laced with fentanyl. By the time they were found unresponsive, they had suffered several strokes and a heart attack. Demi was immediately rushed to the hospital where she miraculously survived all of her traumatic injuries. After several weeks of care, they were released and checked into rehab. While Demi says she had no regrets in life, she admits her overdose changed a lot about her life, leaving her with permanent disabilities.
“When I think about things, the closest thing that I get to a regret is when I overdosed … that overdose caused me a lot of … it actually caused a disability. I have vision impairment and hearing impairment to this day,” they said on The Howard Stern Show .
They added, “I don’t drive because I have blind spots in my vision. It’s a daily constant reminder. You know, anytime I look at something, like, I have blind spots in my vision when I look at your face, and so it’s a constant reminder to stay on the right path because I never want that to happen again.”
While filming the third Maze Runner film, Dylan O’Brien got into an accident that left him with serious injuries. While filming a stunt, he was struck by a vehicle, leaving him with a concussion, facial fracture, and brain trauma, among other injuries. Filming initially shut down for a month and half to give Dylan time to recover but it quickly became apparent that his injuries were so intense that filming could not begin anytime soon.
“I had lost a lot of function, just in my daily routine,” he told Vulture . “I wasn’t even at a point where I felt like I could handle social situations, let alone showing up and being responsible for work every day. Long hours on set, delivering a performance and carrying a movie … it just makes your palms sweat.”
Looking back, Dylan says his recovery process was “overwhelming,” particularly the trauma he suffered psychologically. Thankfully, he’s been able to make a full recovery.
6. Orlando Bloom
Back in 1998, Orlando Bloom got into an accident that almost left him paralyzed. Orlando was scaling a wall up to a roof terrace but unfortunately the drainpipe he was holding collapsed. He fell three stories down and says he “crushed” his spine, “narrowly escaping death and paralysis.” Just three months later, he was able to ride his bike and was on his way to a full recovery.
“Until then, I didn’t have a healthy appreciation for life and death -- that we’re not invincible," he told GQ . “And for four days, I faced the idea of living in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I went to some dark places in my mind. I realized, I’m either going to walk again or I'm not."
He continued, “The doctor said he wasn’t sure how severe the spinal cord damage was. I remember him telling me that, and staring at the ceiling, thinking, I never stared at ceilings before! And I wonder if I’m going to be looking at ceilings for the rest of my life.”
Travis Barker was in a catastrophic accident when his private jet crashed during take-off and the plane became engulfed in flames. Out of the six people on the aircraft, only Travis and his creative partner, Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein, survived. Travis suffered second and third-degree burns on 65 percent of his body and was hospitalized for 11 weeks. While he did recover from his physical injuries, he was left with PTSD.
“I know every day since that crash has been a blessing. I just had to convince myself that I walked away still alive for a reason, and I should make the most of every day. But until you almost die, until you look death in the face, you can’t honestly say, ‘I cherish every day like it’s my last.’ I think people that have cheated death just do it in a different way,” Travis told Kerrang!
8. Emilia Clarke
Just after wrapping filming on the first season of Game of Thrones in 2011, Emilia Clarke suffered a brain aneurysm, which can cause immediate death in a third of those who experience them. She underwent brain surgery and spent weeks in the hospital, during which she dealt with aphasia. After a month in the hospital, she was released -- just weeks before she had to be back on the GOT set.
Then in 2013, she learned that an aneurysm on the other side of her brain had doubled in size and that she would need surgery. The procedure wasn’t successful and left her with a massive brain bleed. Emily underwent another emergency surgery and while the recovery was tough, now, years later, she says she has “healed beyond [her] most unreasonable hopes.”
When Rachel Bilson was just a teenager, she was in a terrifying car accident that left her in a coma. Looking back, Rachel says she and a group of friends were driving near the beach in California when they got in a head-on collision. She ended up in a coma in the hospital but incredibly ended up making a full recovery.
"Everyone was lucky to have survived...I was with my girlfriend and these two guys driving down the Pacific Coast Highway. We were going really fast and we were involved in a head-on collision with a truck. We were in a tiny car and it was a pretty bad crash. They had to cut us out and I was in a coma for a few days," she told the Mirror .
10. Tracy Morgan
In 2014, Tracy Morgan was riding in a limousine bus when it was struck by a Walmart tractor trailer. The vehicle burst into flames, taking the life of Tracy’s friend, James "Jimmy Mac" McNair. While Tracy was able to escape, he was left with many broken bones and a traumatic brain injury. He ended up in a coma for two weeks and spent months in the hospital. Incredibly, Tracy was able to make a full recovery.
“You’re never going to be normal after you go through something like that. You don’t die for a few weeks and then come back to normal, trust me. Something’s going to be missing, something’s going to be gained -- you just got to live your life after that,” Tracy told Complex .
He continued, “But after surviving something like that, I’m probably never going to feel normal. I went to the other side. This is not something I’m making up. Do you know what God said to me? He said, ‘Your room ain’t ready. I still got something for you to do.’”
Chad Michael Murray was still a teenager when he ended up hospitalized and learned that his intestines had become twisted and he was internally bleeding. Doctors didn’t initially realize Chad was bleeding so treatment was delayed. Thankfully, a nurse saved his life by going “against the grain” and giving him units of blood. He was then able to make a full recovery.
“I almost died…They had a priest at the end of my bed. I remember, it was the only time I ever saw my dad cry -- well, one of two times. I was in and out of consciousness…my nurse saved my life that night,” Chad said on The Jess Cagle Show .
12. Gary Busey
In the ’80s, Gary Busey was in a motorcycle accident during which he was thrown into a curb and split his skull. He was rushed into brain surgery and during the intense operation, he says he believes he died and had a spiritual experience. While on “the other side,” angels gave him the choice to continue his destiny or stay in the spiritual realm. While he chose to return Earth-side, his brain injury forced him to spend months learning to walk and talk again. Gary’s family say the accident was a difficult time for everyone but he knows it was all a part of his journey.
“I don’t have brain damage; I have a brain disordered in a better direction because of how it happened and how it recovered,” Gary told The Guardian . “It was part of my journey, my growing up, my understanding.”
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