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Whoopi Goldberg Reveals That She Almost Died From Her Recent Illness

Whoopi Goldberg Reveals That She Almost Died From Her Recent Illness

The Academy Award winner appears to be on the mend, but it sounds like it's been a tough time

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Everyone's favourite Academy Award winner and nun impersonator Whoopi Goldberg has opened up about the recent health problems that nearly claimed her life.

Whoopi is a regular on popular US show The View but has been noticeably absent for the past month or so due to ill health. In a pre-recorded video, she has now explained that she was suffering from pneumonia in both lungs, and nearly died from sepsis.

Bloody hell. That sounds awful.

Joy Behar, her co-host on The View, aired the video on Friday to explain why Whoopi had been absent, and to provide an update on her wellbeing.

Whoopi appeared in a pre-recorded message.
ABC/The View

In the video, the 63-year-old Sister Act star said: "I am here, I am up and moving around, not as fast as I'd like to be, but I am OK. I'm not dead."

She then explained that she had been battling pneumonia in both her lungs, and also had a potentially life-threatening infection as well. Sepsis is very dangerous. It spreads through the bloodstream and can be fatal.

Whoopi continued: "And yes, I came very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news: I didn't."

Despite her illness, she said she was still feeling the love from her loyal fanbase and beyond.

She added: "Thank you for all of your good wishes, all of the wonderful things that people have been saying. Even people who aren't huge fans of mine have actually been saying nice things about me."

Whoopi and her co-stars in their usual seats.
ABC/The View

Even though she is presumably still quite ill - it can take a while to get over illnesses as serious as these - she wasn't short of a wisecrack.

She joked that 'all that [people saying nice things about her] is gonna change' once she makes her return to the daytime show. That remark at least proved to be a popular one with The View's studio audience.

In the UK, sepsis is the most common cause of avoidable death. It accounts for more than 44,000 people dying each year. It's actually very treatable if it is discovered in the early stages. A simple course of antibiotics can be enough.

However, if it isn't caught and the body goes tries really hard to fight it off, it can be a quick and ruthless killer.

Whoopi says she's on the mend.
ABC/The View

Whoopi signed off by saying that she would offer more of an explanation 'when we're all at the table' - a reference to The View's round table where the hosts sit to debate - and signed off: "See you soon."

Here's hoping she is well enough to return to her work soon enough.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Entertainment News, TV and Film, Celebrity, US Entertainment, Hollywood