Madonna continues counting blessings after being hospitalized for a serious bacterial infection in June.
“Less than four months ago, I was in a hospital, and I was unconscious, and people thinking – predicting — that I might not make it,” Madonna, 65, told the fans attending her Sunday, October 22, show in Antwerp, Belgium, according to fan footage of the event. The European concert was part of her Celebration tour, which the “Like a Prayer” singer had to postpone for three months while she recovered from her June health scare.
Madonna told those attending the Sportpaleis arena that she is eternally grateful that she could return from the brink and perform for all of them. “It’s a f–king miracle that I’m here right now,” she said before invoking her mother – the late Madonna Louise Ciccone – who died in 1963 due to breast cancer.
“My mother, God bless her. She must be watching over me. She said, ‘Girl, it’s not your time to go,’” said the music icon, adding that she had a “strange thought” about her terrifying ordeal and what her mother went through 50 years prior. “I suddenly had sympathy and empathy for my mother, not about the dying part, but how lonely she must have felt laying in [the] hospital, knowing that she wasn’t going to live, and I was given another chance.”
“So I’m very grateful for that,” continued Madonna. “I must tell you, I don’t feel really well right now, but I can’t complain ’cause I’m alive. Thank God for my children and all of you for your love and support. I really appreciate it.”
The music world was put on edge on June 28 after Madonna’s manager, Guy Oseary, posted a message about her health scare. “On Saturday, June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which [led] to a several day stay in the ICU,” he wrote. At the time, Madonna’s health was “improving,” according to her manager, but she was still “under medical care.”
In July, Madonna spoke for the first time since the health scare, thanking her fans for their “positive energy, prayers and words of healing and encouragement” during her recovery. She also said her first thoughts after waking up in the hospital were of her children (she is the mother of sons Rocco Ritchie, 23, and David Bana, 18, and daughters Lourdes Leon, 26, Mercy James, 17, and 11-year-old twins Stella and Estere).
Madonna said her second thought after waking up was that she didn’t “want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets to my tour.” Thankfully, those fans didn’t have to wait long. After getting back on her feet, she kicked off her Celebration tour on October 14 at London’s O2 Arena.
