Tony winner Billy Porter is opening up about the horrific health struggles he faced amid his near fatal battle with sepsis late last year.
“I was dead for three days,” Porter said during a recent appearance on “Outlaws with TS Madison.” He added that he was “on the EMCO machine,” also known as an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, which is a type of life support, per the Mayo Clinic.
Porter revealed his diagnosis back in September, after he was forced to pull out of starring in “Cabaret” on Broadway. A press release issued at the time explained that Porter was dealing with a “serious case” of sepsis and that he had been advised “to maintain a restful schedule.”
Porter explained to Madison that he initially went to the doctor’s office for a “routine check,” only for them to discover a kidney stone that had become “trapped” in his urethra.
“When they got in there, there was so much puss and bile and infection behind the stone,” he said. “It bubbled up and I went uroseptic in minutes.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, urosepsis is a “type of sepsis that begins in your urinary tract.” Should it go untreated, in can spread to the kidneys and become a “medical emergency.”
Once he was taken off life support, 56-year-old Porter was informed that his leg “had gone into compartment syndrome, which is when the muscles close in on themselves and cut off the oxygen.”
“So they had to cut me open on either side of my leg while I was in a coma, and from my knee to my hip, and leave it open for two days, so they could save my leg,” he said. “I am so grateful to be here. It is such a gift.”
On being alive, Porter added: “I am a miracle. I’m a walking miracle.”
