Madonna on Saturday recalled the health scare that left her in the ICU for several days and caused her to delay the start of her tour.
The pop icon, who was hospitalized due to a “serious bacterial infection” in June, reflected on the experience during emotional remarks at a show in Belgium’s Sportpaleis arena.
“Less than four months ago, I was in a hospital and I was unconscious, and people were thinking, predicting, that I might not make it,” Madonna told fans in Antwerp. “It’s a fucking miracle that I’m here right now. My mother, God bless her, she must be watching over me. She said, ‘Girl, it’s not your time to go.’”
Madonna continued to speak about her mother, who died of breast cancer in 1963 when the “Like a Prayer” singer was five years old.
“I had this strange thought,” Madonna said. “I suddenly had sympathy and empathy for my mother, not about the dying part, but how lonely she must have felt being in the hospital knowing that she wasn’t going to live. And I was given another chance, so I’m very grateful for that.”
“I must tell you that I don’t feel very well right now but I can’t complain, because I’m alive,” she continued. “Thank God for my children and all of your love and support.”
Madonna was reportedly found unresponsive prior to her hospitalization this summer. She declared in a message on social media that she was “on the road to recovery” in July. She said that she spent the time after waking up in the hospital thinking about her kids, followed by her fans.
Madonna will continue The Celebration Tour, which covers the singer’s legendary career, with more dates throughout Europe before bringing her tour to America starting Dec. 13.