Whoopi Goldberg says she nearly died of pneumonia.
Appearing Friday in a video that aired on ABC’s The View, Goldberg told the audience she had pneumonia in both lungs.
“Hey, yes, it’s me,” she said. “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. Here’s what happened.”
Goldberg said: “I came very, very close to leaving the Earth.” She appeared in good condition but said she is still not moving around as fast as she’d like.
READ MORE: ‘Big Brother Canada:’ First evicted houseguest says ‘it is just luck of the draw’
“Good news, I didn’t. Thank you for all of your good wishes, all of the wonderful things that people have been saying. Even people who aren’t huge fans of mine have actually been saying nice things about me,” she said in the video message.
The 63-year-old The View host thanked the audience for their good wishes and says she can’t wait to return to the show.
“Ladies, I cannot wait to see y’all,” she said to her The View co-hosts. “This has been interesting, and I’ll tell you about it when we’re all at the table. To everybody, see you soon.”
Goldberg has been absent from the talk show, which she co-hosts, since Feb. 6. She did not say when she’ll be back.
READ MORE: Woodstock 50 rumoured lineup includes Jay Z, The Black Keys, Chance the Rapper and more
Her illness was first announced on the show on Feb. 20 when viewers began to question her absence.
“She’s not feeling well,” Joy Behar said at the time. “She’s actually recovering from pneumonia. I saw her last night and she’s very funny still, and we had big laughs. She’s getting there, she’s on the mend.”
On Thursday, The View revealed on Twitter that Goldberg would make an appearance on the show Friday to give an update on her health.
“We’ve been sending our well wishes every day from the Hot Topics table and tomorrow morning, we will hear from @WhoopiGoldberg herself on how she’s doing as she recovers from pneumonia,” the tweet read.
READ MORE: ‘Riverdale’ honours Luke Perry in first episode since his death
Pneumonia was one of the top 10 reported reasons Canadians went to the emergency department (ED) last year, according to a report by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).
There were nearly 135,000 pneumonia-related ED visits in Canada in 2017-18, marking a 13 per cent increase from the year before, stated CIHI. More than one in four reported ED visits for pneumonia resulted in the patient being admitted to the hospital for at least one night.
“Pneumonia is a serious illness and continues to be a concern in our emergency departments. As we approach the colder months, this new data is a timely reminder to all Canadians to take action to prevent pneumonia. Practising good hygiene, getting vaccinated and following advice from our public health units are good tips this time of year,” said Greg Webster, CIHI’s director of Acute and Ambulatory Care Information Services.
Abdominal and pelvic pain, throat and chest pain and acute upper respiratory infection were the top three main reasons for visits, together resulting in approximately one million reported ED visits last year.
—With files from the Associated Press, Global News’ Mark Giunta and Steve Guthrie