Billy Porter details urinary infection that led to coma. 'I was dead for three days'

Billy Porter says a poorly treated urinary corruption astir killed him.

On Wednesday, the 56-year-old Broadway icon appeared connected “Today” to beforehand his caller children’s book, “Songbird successful the Light,” and discussed a caller wellness scare that’s fixed the histrion a caller outlook connected life.

“I americium connected the roadworthy to implicit recovery,” helium said, tearing up. “It is simply a acquisition to beryllium alive. It’s inactive affectional to speech astir it.”

Last year, Porter crossed the pond and made his West End debut starring arsenic the Emcee successful the philharmonic “Cabaret,” which ran Jan. 28 done May 24 astatine London’s Playhouse Theatre. The Tony-winning histrion said helium was having a shot and surviving his purpose, but past helium got a urinary infection.

“The medicine successful the U.K. is trash,” helium told “Outlaws” podcast big TS Madison earlier this month. “Four rounds of antibiotics and 10 to 12 weeks later, it’s a kidney corruption with kidney stones.”

Porter yet thought the corruption had cleared up and returned to New York, wherever past autumn helium was gearing up for a Broadway revival of the philharmonic starring arsenic the production’s archetypal Black Emcee, but his history-making tally was chopped short.

“I spell into rehearsals for ‘Cabaret’ connected Broadway ... and everything seems fine, and a period in, the kidney chromatic symptom comes back,” helium told Madison.

On a Tuesday successful September, Porter checked himself into the infirmary owed to debilitating pain, and past the “Pose” prima subsequently fell into a coma and woke up days aboriginal connected a Saturday evening.

“They went successful to bash a regular check. They saw that the kidney chromatic was trapped successful my urethra, and they went successful to enactment a stent in, redirect the urine, blast maine with existent antibiotics — not U.K. antibiotics — and stroke up the kidney stones. When they got successful there, determination was truthful overmuch pus and bile and corruption down the stone, it bubbled up and I went uroseptic successful minutes.”

“I was dormant for 3 days,” Porter said.

Porter said helium was placed connected an ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) machine, which, according to Mayo Clinic, pumps humor extracurricular of the assemblage to a heart-lung machine, removes c dioxide from the humor and sends oxygen-rich humor backmost to the body. It’s fundamentally a life-support system.

While Porter was successful a coma, helium said, 1 of his legs went into compartment syndrome, which happens erstwhile there’s excessively overmuch unit astir your muscles, causing reduced humor and oxygen travel and perchance starring to necrosis. “They had to chopped maine unfastened connected either broadside of my limb portion I was successful a coma, from my genu to my hip, and permission it unfastened for 2 days truthful they could prevention my leg,” helium told Madison, visibly choked up implicit the ordeal.

Porter told “Today” that the acquisition was mind-altering yet besides inspiring. “My enactment present connected this world is not done, and that gives maine hope.”

His caller children’s book, “Songbird successful the Light,” which follows a young lad who grapples with bullying portion learning to clasp his endowment and emotion himself, deed bookshop shelves this week.