Whoopi Goldberg gives pneumonia battle update: 'I came very, very close to' dying
Whoopi Goldberg is recovering from a nearly fatal bout of pneumonia. Appearing via video on Friday’s episode of The View, the television personality assured fans she’s on the mend, but revealed just how seriously ill she’s been.
“I am up and moving around, not as fast as I’d like to be, but I am OK, I’m not dead,” Goldberg began. “Here’s what happened — I had pneumonia and I was septic.”
Sepsis can result from an infection anywhere in the body, such as pneumonia. The 63-year-old Oscar winner revealed she had “pneumonia in both lungs, which meant there was fluid and there was all kinds of stuff going on.”
“And yes, I came very, very close to leaving the earth,” she continued. “Good news — I didn’t. Thank you for all of your good wishes, all of the wonderful things that people have been saying. Even people who are not huge fans of mine have actually said nice things about me.”
With her sense of humor intact, Goldberg quipped, “We all know that’s going to change when I get back, but for right now it’s brilliant and thank you for everything. Ladies, I can’t wait to see ya’ll. This has been interesting and I’ll tell you about it when we’re all at the table. See you soon.”
The View moderator has not appeared on the show since Feb. 6. It was incorrectly speculated she disappeared from the spotlight to secretly prep for hosting the Oscars, which were on Feb. 24. Joy Behar told fans Goldberg was battling pneumonia.
“She’s not feeling well,” Behar said during the broadcast. “She’s actually recovering from pneumonia. I saw her last night and she’s very funny still, and we had big laughs. She’s getting there, she’s on the mend.”
“It’s a serious thing,” she added. “I don’t think she’s going to be able to host the Oscars, and I’m sure she’s very disappointed. She’s not even well enough to host this show right now much less the Oscars.”
Goldberg was still not well enough to attend Thursday’s benefit concert Love Rocks NYC, which she was set to co-host alongside Martin Short and it’s unclear when she will return to The View.
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