Now Playing
Kevin Winter/Getty Images for CoachellaJeremih says he had to re-learn how to walk and eat in therapy following his weeks-long battle with COVID-19.
The Grammy-winning singer/songwriter opened up to ABC TV affiliate WLS Chicago about his near-death experience and says he wishes “nobody go through what I went through.”
“If I had to be the example, I’ll take it, because a lot of people might just be taking it for granted, still out partying and amongst their friends,” Jeremih shared. “It happened to me and I happen to be one of the few who made it.”
Jeremih said days before he was hospitalized in ICU at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in November he knew “something wasn’t right.”
“My heart was beating irregularly. My liver and kidneys were out. I can talk about this now because, thank God, I’ve made it and I’m still here, but I was on dialysis. I was on things I can only recall my grandparents talking about, to be so young,” he said.
Jeremih, who’d never been treated at a hospital prior to COVID-19, was also diagnosed with multiple inflammatory syndrome, which causes the inflammation of major organs.
“They kept telling me the numbers weren’t getting better,” he added. “I’m just like, when did my body get this bad? I’ve never had any problems with it my whole life, for 33 years!”
Jeremih said he considered giving up, but his mother, his two sons, and fellow Chicago native Chance the Rapper, kept pushing for him to survive.
“This is one of my best friends!” added Chance. “This is my actual friend. He knows my family, I know his family.”
To celebrate his recovery earlier this month, Jeremih and Chance released their joint album, Merry Christmas Lil Mama: The Gift that Keeps on Giving.
By Rachel George
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
