1 week ago
6 
Perez Hilton was ‘close to death’ after facing a three-week battle with sepsis.
The controversial American gossip blogger, 48, launched his website in 2004, gaining notoriety for his reporting on celebrity culture.
However, this week it was revealed Perez – real name Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr. – recently faced a significant health battle.
Over the weekend Perez revealed he’d been struck down by the flu for a week and then developed an ulcer after not pairing his medication with food as instructed.
That then developed into sepsis, a condition in which the body responds to extreme infection.
A source has now told the issue became so serious, he was shockingly close to dying.
‘He never thought this would ever be the case, because his health has always been fine, and he never thought he would ever get into this position,’ a source told The Daily Mail.
‘But after the last few weeks, he is celebrating today; his birthday [on Monday] is being seen as a moment of change, because he could have been dead.’
They continued: ‘He should be dead. He believed and had many moments with himself thinking that he was going to die. Instead, he now has a second chance, and this is actually what he needed to happen.’
‘He is looking forward to this upcoming year to make all the changes he needs to do in life, not only for himself, but for his children.’
Perez is the father to son Mario Armando Lavandeira III and daughters Mia and Mayte Amor.
At the weekend, Perez posted an emotional YouTube video in which he detailed the ‘crazy, crazy, crazy’ saga of how he ended up in hospital – which began when he developed ‘the worst flu of my life’.
‘My stupidity landed me in the hospital for 21 days and it was the worst and best thing that’s ever happened to me,’ he told his followers.
He then went on to explain how he developed an ulcer, which then progressed to a perforation in his stomach, and then sepsis.
Crying, he then spoke about how ‘people die of sepsis’. Perez went on to explain that after he was left unable to walk one morning, he was rushed to hospital by an ambulance in Las Vegas.
‘The first few days were a lot of pain and constant tests like X-rays CT scans, ultrasounds because they couldn’t find location of perforation. So, that was scary. There’s this hole inside of me. Where is it?’ he shared.
Doctors then performed a laparoscopic surgery, which revealed ‘so much infection’ around his internal organs, while a further procedure attempted to drain it.
However, as the sepsis ‘kept working’, Perez said his body ‘kept falling apart’ and he developed yet another infection.
What is sepsis?
Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection. It happens when your immune system overreacts to an infection and starts to damage your body’s own tissues and organs.
Sepsis can be triggered by an infection in any part of the body. The most common sites of infection that lead to sepsis are the lungs, urinary tract, tummy and pelvis.
Some people with sepsis will experience long-term physical and psychological problems – including breathlessness, feeling lethargic or excessively tired, muscle weakness, swollen limbs, joint pain and chest pain.
He was then left unable to eat for two weeks and had to be fed nutrients through an IV.
Perez described the experience as ‘hell’ and how he was desperate ‘to go home and be with my babies’.
After crying throughout the video, Perez said he was ‘still not 100 per cent’ but went on to detail how he now had a newfound belief in God.
‘One of the best experiences about this was God presented himself to me. Then He did something, something that I can only call miraculous, it was real,’ he said.
The blogger then went on to share how he’s since started taking his children to church and enrolled them in a religious school.
Over the years Perez has been slammed for his blog, which formerly outed alleged closeted celebrities. Some notable controversies included posting an upskirt photo of a then-underaged Miley Cyrus, claimed Ariana Grande was seen using cocaine at a party, and was sued by Colin Farrell after sharing a link to his sex tape. He also previously apologised to Britney Spears for his coverage of her highly publicised breakdown.
Aside from his blog, he’s also become known for appearing on reality shows including Celebrity Rap Superstar, Victoria Beckham: Coming to America, and MTV Cribs. He also appeared on Celebrity Big Brother UK in 2015 and I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Australia in 2020.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·