Billy Porter says he was ‘dead for three days’ in horror health battle
Billy Porter has said that he was ‘dead for three days’ during his sepsis battle in 2025. (Getty)
Pose star Billy Porter has revealed the horrific details of his sepsis diagnosis last year, explaining that he was “dead for three days” after being put on a life support machine.
Billy Porter, 56, made his sepsis diagnosis public last September after he was forced to pull out of starring in Cabaret on Broadway alongside Marisha Wallace. At the time, an official statement from the production said that Porter was battling a “serious case” of the condition but he was expected to “make a full recovery”.
Speaking to TS Madison on her iHeartMedia Outlaws podcast on 2 March, Porter opened up about how close he came to death, and suggested that it’s a “miracle” that he is still here today.
He explained to Madison that during a “routine check” with his doctor, they discovered that he had a kidney stone that “was trapped in [his] urethra”.
Sharing the gory details, Porter said: “When they got in there, there was so much puss, and bile, and infection behind the stone. It bubbled up and I went uroseptic in minutes.”
According to the Sepsis Alliance, the term urosepsis “describes sepsis caused by a UTI [urinary tract infection]”. When a UTI goes untreated, it can spread to the kidneys and cause sepsis.
Porter explained that his case of sepsis was so severe that he had to be placed on a extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine [ECMO machine], which is a form of life support. An ECMO helps blood pump around the heart and lungs, allowing a patient’s heart and lungs to rest and recover. Meanwhile, Porter was in a coma.
“I was dead for three days,” the Tony Award-winning actor confessed. “I am a miracle. I’m a walking miracle.”
After he awoke, he was informed that his leg “had gone into compartment syndrome, which is when the muscles close in on themselves and cut off the oxygen”.
He had to be “cut open” on either side of his leg, from his knee to his hip, while he was still in a coma in order to “save [his] leg”.
Porter explained that after he came to, he realised that the near-death experience had changed the way he views life.
“I am so grateful to be here. It is such a gift,” he said, adding that the experience taught him three things.
“As I sat in my hospital bed, reflecting, there were a couple of things I heard. The first thing I heard was: Work smarter, not harder,” he shared.
“The second thing I heard was: Be obedient and answer the call. And the third thing I heard was: Don’t you ever stop telling the truth again. I unconsciously silenced myself for fear that I wouldn’t be on the A-list anymore.”
In December, the Hunger Games star assured fans that he was on the road to recovery.
“It was not easy. It’s been a very, very challenging four months. And I want everybody to know that I am on the road to a full recovery. I’m not there yet, but I’m on the road to that,” he said.
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