By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-10 15:52:16 | Updated at 2024-12-26 00:33:13
2 weeks ago
Jamie Foxx has credited his 16-year-old daughter Anelise Foxx playing her guitar for saving his life while he was in a coma.
After months of keeping his dramatic health scare private, the Django Unchained actor, 56, revealed in his new Netflix special that he suffered a stroke caused by a bleed on the brain last year, causing him to lose his memory for 20 days.
Opening up about his terrifying ordeal in Jamie Foxx: What Happened Was…, Jamie said that Anelise was his 'spiritual defibrillator'.
He began: 'They said at one point, the first 15 days, they thought they were going to lose me because my vitals were out of control.
‘There was a 13 or 14 day period where they said, "We've gotta keep him calm and we’ve given him every medication that they could. It's not working, we gotta keep him calm because his vitals are so high we're going to lose him."
‘Do you know what the worst thing to have in a hospital room when you're trying to keep calm? Black family members.
Jamie Foxx has credited his 16-year-old daughter Anelise Foxx playing her guitar for saving his life while he was in a coma
Anelise joined her father on stage during his Netflix special and the pair performed together
‘That's when a miracle happened, and that miracle was working through my youngest daughter.'
Jamie said that Anelise, who he shares with psychotherapist Kristin Grannis, snuck into my hospital room with her guitar.
He continued: 'They said when she was playing, my vitals went down.
‘The nurses at the nurses station were baffled. Like, "Wow what did they give him?"
'They rushed into the room and she said, "Ssh. I got him."
'Do you know what I found out? That God was in that guitar. That's my spiritual defibrillator.'
During this heartfelt moment, Anelise came out onto the stage with her guitar.
‘Thank you much for stepping up when all was lost,’ Jamie said.
Jamie described his youngest daughter as 'my spiritual defibrillator'
Seconds after Jamie recalled Anelise's music helping him through his coma, she came out onto the stage with her guitar
'You had to make it because I always dreamed that we'd perform together on stage one day,' she replied.
Jamie is a father to two daughters, Corinne, 30, whom he shares with his ex-partner Connie Kline, and Anelise.
Earlier in the special, Jamie recalled how a bad headache lead to his medical emergency.
He said: 'On April 11, I was having a bad headache, and I asked my boy for Aspirin. I realized quickly that when you're in a medical emergency, your boys don't know what the f*** to do.'
He then confessed: 'I don't remember 20 days.'
The teary-eyed star admitted to the audience after declaring he was 'back': 'You don't know how good this feels.'
Jamie went on to admit it's still 'a mystery' what happened, adding: 'We still don't know exactly what happened to me.'
After starting his sentence with 'What had happened was,' Jamie broke down in tears and was comforted by the applauding audience.
He then said: 'Your life doesn't flash before you. It was kind of oddly peaceful.
The pair hugged and cried, with Anelise telling her dad: 'You had to make it because I always dreamed that we'd perform together on stage one day'
'I saw the tunnel, but I didn't see the light. It was hot in that tunnel.'
Jamie credits his sister Deidra with 'saving [his] life' after she 'aimlessly' drove him around before taking him to Atlanta's Piedmont Hospital, where he underwent a life-saving procedure.
Addressing why his family wanted to keep details of his health scare to themselves, he said: 'I was dizzy from the stroke, so my head would bob around, and my family thought everyone would "meme the f***" out of me.'
He vividly remembers waking up on May 4, and being unable to walk.
Jamie recalled: 'When I woke up, I found myself in a wheelchair. I couldn't walk.'
