Madonna has detailed the moment she received a chilling message from her late mother, while she was in a coma in hospital.
The singer, 67, was rushed into intensive care back in 2023 after contracting a bacterial infection, forcing her to pause her world tour.
Speaking to Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, Madonna has shared the moment she was greeted by her mother’s spirit while she was unconscious.
The revelation came while the musician was discussing the death of her brother Christopher, and how it led her to come to several realisations about her life.
Madonna’s mother Madonna Louise died in 1963 when she was just 30 years old following a battle with breast cancer. The star was just five years old at the time.
She said: ‘I was almost there on the other side and I had a conscious moment. My mother appeared to me and she said ”do you want to come with me?” And I said ”no”.’
Madonna has detailed the moment she received a chilling message from her late mother, while she was in a coma in hospital
‘My assistant was in the room with me, but I was still unconscious, but she heard me say ‘no’. And then when I did eventually wake up, I realised that the ‘no’ was about me needing to forgive and make good with people that I still held grudges against.’
Madonna went on to admit that one of her ‘biggest enemies’ was her brother Christopher, who she fell out with over work-related problems, before their ‘feud’ deepened when he released his 2008 book Life With My Sister Madonna.
The star confessed it was ‘hard’ to overcome her resentment towards Christopher, saying: ‘It’s important to find a way to forgive even people that you perceive as your biggest enemies.
‘For a really long time, it was my brother, who died recently, because I think the hardest ones are the people that you feel like you’re the closest to […] The people that hurt you the most are the people that you love the most.
‘If someone you love deeply betrays you, and does something that shows that they have no consciousness in that moment that they made that choice to do that, it’s a bitter pill for me to swallow.’
Madonna went on to share that she did patch up her relationship with Christopher before his death from pancreatic cancer.
She said: ‘For my brother, I didn’t speak to him for years. Years and years. And it was him being ill and reaching out to me and saying ”I need your help” that means having that moment, like, ”am I gonna help my enemy?” And I just did.’
‘It was such a load off my back, such a weight that was removed, baggage that I could put down to finally be able to be in a room with him and holding his hand, even if he was dying and saying, ‘I love you and I forgive you’. That was really important.’
Madonna’s mother Madonna Louise died in 1963 when she was just 30 years old following a battle with breast cancer . The star was just five years old at the time
During the same interview, Madonna confirmed that her 2023 stint in hospital was due to a bacterial infection, that left her in intensive care for four days
During the same interview, Madonna confirmed that her 2023 stint in hospital was due to a bacterial infection, that left her in intensive care for four days.
She said: ‘I was rehearsing for a tour, and I got a bacterial infection.
‘One minute I was alive and dancing around, and the next minute I was in the ICU, unconscious for four days. I got out of hospital, they took me off the ventilator, I started to breathe on my own, and I had something called sepsis, and it can kill you.
‘Everybody recovers at a different rate, and I’ve always seen myself as Superwoman.
‘So I was like “Oh I’m going to kick this. I’m going to be good, I’m getting back into rehearsal” but I had no strength, no energy, couldn’t get out of bed, and I didn’t know when it was gonna end.’
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused when the body releases chemicals to fight an infection.
These chemicals damage the body’s own tissues and organs and can lead to shock, organ failure and death.
Organ failure and death are more likely if sepsis is not recognised early and treated immediately.
Listen to the full interview on the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast.
SIX MAJOR SIGNS OF SEPSIS
Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused when the body releases chemicals to fight an infection.
These chemicals damage the body’s own tissues and organs and can lead to shock, organ failure and death.
Organ failure and death are more likely if sepsis is not recognized early and treated immediately.
Sepsis infects an estimated 55,000 Australians each year, killing between 5,000 and 9,000 making it more than four times deadlier than the road toll.
The symptoms can look like gastro or flu and can become deadly, rapidly.
The six major signs of something potentially deadly can be identified by the acronym ‘SEPSIS’:
- Slurred speech or confusion, lethargy, disorientation
- Extreme shivering or muscle pain, fever or low temperature
- Pressing a rash doesn’t make it fade
- Severe breathlessness, rapid breathing
- Inability to pass urine for several hours
- Skin that’s mottled or discoloured
Children may also show convulsions or fits, and a rash that doesn’t fade when you press it – and more than 40 per cent of cases occur in children under five.
Anyone who develops these symptoms should seek medical help urgently — and ask doctors: ‘Could this be sepsis?’
Sepsis is a leading cause of avoidable death killing about 10,000 Australians each year
The early symptoms of sepsis can be easily confused with more mild conditions, making it difficult to diagnose.
A high temperature (fever), chills and shivering, a fast heartbeat and rapid breathing are also indicators.
A patient can rapidly deteriorate if sepsis is missed early on, so quick diagnosis and treatment is vital – yet this rarely happens.
In the early stages, sepsis can be mistaken for a chest infection, flu or upset stomach.
It is most common and dangerous in older adults, pregnant women, children younger than one, people with chronic conditions or those who have weakened immune systems.
