10 Stars Who Survived Scary Sepsis Battles

Sepsis, a life-threatening condition where the body’s immune system overresponds to an infection, can cause widespread inflammation, tissue damage, organ failure and even death, per the Cleveland Clinic. Thankfully, if it’s caught early and treated quickly, the prognosis for many people is good.  

A handful of celebrities have dealt with sepsis, with some even experiencing septic shock, the most severe stage of sepsis. Thankfully, these stars have all overcome their health battles and survived — and now hope to spread awareness by sharing their journeys. 

Here’s what happened to these stars …

Bringing Up Bates alum Erin Bates recently experienced scary medical complications after giving birth to her seventh child. After a “long and emotional labor,” Erin developed a severe UTI and kidney infection, which sent her into septic shock. Then in the ICU she suffered a “lengthy and severe seizure.” Erin went on to spend weeks in the hospital while doctors attempted to figure out the cause of her medical emergencies. 

While Erin is now home recovering, she currently doesn’t have function in her right leg and she is continuing to be monitored by a medical team. 

“After almost three weeks in the hospital, I have never been so thankful to finally head home to our babies,” Erin wrote on Instagram. “We don’t have all the answers yet, and I still don’t have function in my right leg, but we are choosing to count every blessing — especially the gift of being together again. Your prayers have carried us through and mean the world to our family. ❤️”

Billy Porter recently dealt with sepsis while in the middle of his run in Broadway’s Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club. He was forced to step away from the production and the show announced its production would wrap earlier than expected. While Billy has not spoken out about his condition, the show shared that he was expected to make a full recovery.

“Billy Porter must also withdraw from the production,” the show shared in a statement on social media. “His doctors are confident that he will make a full recovery but have advised him to maintain a restful schedule.”

Amelia Gray Hamlin experienced a scary situation when her nipple piercing got infected and led to sepsis. Her mom Lisa Rinna explained that Amelia was accidentally pushed into a bush at Coachella and one of her breasts took most of the impact. When she returned home, she had a “super high fever” and her boobs had “swelled up to this humongous size.”

“We didn’t know what to do, so we called an infectious disease doctor. She had to go to the infectious disease doctor!” Lisa said on husband Harry Hamlin’s Let’s Not Talk About the Husband podcast. “She had sepsis in her freaking boob … She punctured something when she went into the bush, and she had sepsis and she had to be on IV antibiotics for a week. It was actually very dangerous, guys. It was dangerous.”

Emily in Paris star Ashley Park was on vacation in the Maldives when a severe case of tonsillitis spiraled into “critical septic shock.” Things took a serious turn when it began impacting her organs and she ended up spending a month in a local hospital’s ICU. The situation looked dire for some time and doctors thought she might not make it. Looking back, Ashley says it’s a “miracle” how she’s recovered.

“I pushed myself too far. I was not listening to my body. Now, I’m thinking about my future and asking, ‘Am I putting myself in a position where I’m going to be able to do my best?’ That starts with my health. I’m getting back to my old self. I look and feel better, and I’m trying to stay as stable as I can and keep the same energy that people expect,” Ashley later told .

In early 2021, Joshua Bassett had a near-death experience during an incredibly stressful period in his life. Joshua shared on Instagram that at the time, he began feeling unwell but tried to sleep it off. After several days of his condition getting worse and ending up in excruciating pain, he checked into the hospital, where doctors told him he was the “sickest patient” there. He found out he had been experiencing septic shock and heart failure — and had to undergo surgery. 

“[The doctors] told me that I had a 30% chance of survival. They told me that if I had not checked into the hospital within 12 hours, I would have been found [dead] in my apartment,” Joshua, who has thankfully been able to recover, told GQ.

Tyler James Williams once experienced a serious medical emergency amid a fitness journey where he pushed his body to its limits. While he had been trying to gain muscle through intense workouts at the gym and strict dieting, he began dealing with stomach pain and the inability to keep food down. It was eventually discovered that his bowels were extremely inflamed and he was subsequently diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. 

He was rushed into surgery to remove six inches of his lower intestine. Unfortunately, his intestines were in such bad shape that they couldn’t heal properly and he went into septic shock. He spent months recovering, which required an intravenous feeding system and an ostomy bag.

“I was really pushing my body to the limit. By the time December hit, it just crashed. Everything shut down. The last thought I had was, ‘This could be it. If this is it, I’m not happy. I worked a lot. I did a lot of things. I didn’t enjoy any of this. This can’t be it,’” he told Men’s Health, adding that he now has worked to “have a better relationship” with his body and is stronger than ever.

Vicki Gunvalson had a medical emergency that resulted in sepsis — but she was accidentally misdiagnosed at first. Looking back, Vicki says she first knew something was wrong when she was working with a client, who happened to be a retired ER physician, and said she began speaking incoherently. 

“So I got to the office … I had a client coming in and said I was talking gibberish and I wrote an email out and the email didn’t make sense,” she shared on My Friend, My Soulmate, My Podcast. “He got up and told [boyfriend Michael Smith’s daughter] Olivia that I was possibly having a stroke; we didn’t know. I don’t remember anything and [Olivia] took me to the hospital.”

At the hospital, Vicki was told she had a sinus infection and was sent home. Later that night, she passed out while taking a bath. Since the doctor had told her she needed sleep, she went to bed — and slept for 14 hours. She woke up disoriented and headed to the hospital again where she was told she had a “massive infection” and was dealing with sepsis. While Vicki has been able to heal, she says she has a lot of “trauma” from the experience.

In 2019, Whoopi Goldberg was forced to take a step back from The View while dealing with severe double pneumonia complicated by sepsis. Looking back, Whoopi says she came close to dying but was able to make a full recovery.  

“I am here. I am up and moving around. Not as fast as I’d like to be, but I am OK. I’m not dead. I came very, very close to leaving the Earth. Good news: I didn’t,” Whoopi shared on The View. “They had to pump a lot of stuff out of me. So, you know, this is a cautionary tale for all of us. You must really take care of yourself because there’s little tiny stuff out there that will kill you that you never think of.”

Abby Lee Miller contracted sepsis while she was in the middle of a dance tour in 2024. Looking back, Abby, who is wheelchair bound, says she started to have trouble with her catheter, which needs to be changed monthly. Although she was traveling with a nurse, the catheter change was put off an extra day which resulted in a UTI.

“I held off for a day, which was a mistake. Then my back started hurting and my kidneys. I was screaming in pain,” she told Daily Mail, adding that when she was taken to a hospital, she “laid in the emergency room for five and a half hours waiting for someone to change [her] catheter.”

She ended up becoming septic and spent several days in the ICU, where she underwent painful procedures. Although it was a scary situation, she made a recovery. 

In 2023, Jamie-Lynn Sigler had a near-death experience following a surgical procedure. Looking back, Jamie-Lynn says she had a bad reaction after the surgery and contracted sepsis. While she thankfully recovered, Jamie-Lynn credits her ability to pull through to a spiritual retreat in India. 

“A little less than a year ago now is when I went to India and I lived in this ashram and I felt so awakened and connected and peaceful,” she said on her MeSsy podcast. “And when I came home, two weeks later, I had a very bad reaction to a surgery and got sepsis and was in the hospital and almost died. I never told anybody this.”

She later added that she had “never” in her life “been more sad” or “felt more low,” noting, “What I learned from India was I had an inability to escape it. I had to sit in it. I would scream in pillows, I would cry to girlfriends. I reached out, I sat by myself, I got a therapist. I did all of these things I had never really done before and went through this process that was absolutely necessary.”