A brain bleed that led to a stroke is what landed actor Jamie Foxx in the hospital last year.
The 56-year-old disclosed the details during his Netflix comedy special “Jamie Foxx: What Had Happened Was.”
“April 11, I was having a bad headache, and I asked my boy for an aspirin,” he said. “I realized quickly that when you’re in a medical emergency, your boys don’t know what ... to do. Before I could get the aspirin, I went out.”
A stroke is an umbrella term for any hemorrhage in the brain or any blockage of the blood vessels of the brain while a brain bleed is a form of stroke.
“Headaches from a brain bleed are usually very rapid onset and severe, often described as like a bolt of lightning or like being struck in the head with a hammer,” New Jersey Neurosurgeon Reza J. Karimi told The Epoch Times on Dec. 11. “They tend to be very severe and often are associated with nausea, vomiting, and, in some cases, confusion.”
Foxx won an Academy Award in 2005 for his portrayal of the late blind jazz pianist Ray Charles in the movie “Ray.”
He also starred in “Collateral” with Tom Cruise in 2004 and “Django Unchained” in 2012 with Leonardo DiCaprio.
“You have no idea how good this feels … I’m back!” Foxx said during the hour-long show. “I was fighting for my life but I’m here in front of you.”
At the time Foxx fell ill in April 2023, he was on the Atlanta set of his Netflix movie “Back in Action” with costars Cameron Diaz and Glenn Close.
After receiving a cortisone shot from an Atlanta doctor, Foxx’s sister Deidra Dixon drove him around town and eventually randomly selected Piedmont Hospital on Peachtree Road in Buckhead, which was near the movie set.
“She didn’t know anything about Piedmont Hospital, but she had a hunch that some angels [were] in there,” Foxx said. “Y'all saved my life just 400 yards away from here in Piedmont Hospital. They put me back together again.”
A cortisone shot is used to treat inflammation or pain in the body.
“It is not enough by itself to prevent a stroke, but it can make the patient feel better temporarily for several hours,” Dr. Karimi said.
Foxx was in the hospital for 20 days and said he nearly died.
“I saw the tunnel, I didn’t see the light. I was in that tunnel, though. It was hot in that tunnel,“ Foxx said. ”... am I going to the wrong place ... ? Because I looked at the end of the tunnel, and I thought I saw the devil like ‘Come on.’”
Piedmont Hospital doctors told Foxx’s sister that the movie star was “having a brain bleed that has led to a stroke and that if they didn’t operate on him as soon as possible he would die.”
Dixon, who works as a hairstylist, reportedly knelt down outside the operating room and prayed for her brother the whole time.
Foxx recalls being in a wheelchair when he woke up. He was subsequently transferred to a rehab facility where he relearned motor skills.
“It is very common for patients who suffer a stroke or brain bleed to not recall any part of their hospitalization,” Dr. Karimi said. “Most commonly, patients will start to regain memory after they are already in a rehabilitation facility, which can be several weeks after they were admitted to the hospital.”
On Instagram, Foxx thanked God and his fans.
Strokes can be prevented by identifying a person’s risk factors and starting treatment early on, according to Karimi.
Risk factors include high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, family history of an aneurysm, and neurological warning symptoms.
“Blood pressure control, treatment of high cholesterol, and keeping a normal weight are all important factors to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes,” Dr. Karimi said.
“Lifestyle changes are also very important. These usually are focused on diet, exercise, and making sure to take any prescribed medications regularly without interruption.”
