Tamar Braxton experienced a major health scare that resulted in her being rushed to hospital right before Christmas.
The singer and TV personality shared a post with her followers on Instagram, revealing that she had been shopping and spending time with friends when she suddenly found herself struggling to breathe.
“This isn’t an attention post... this is an ATTENTION post,” she wrote in the caption. “Literally I was with my best firends... shopping and doing Christmas fun s*** and the VERY NEXT DAY I had to be taken to the hospital by AMBULANCE, needed oxygen cause I thought God was taking me home cause I could not breathe and my chest was on FIRE!!”
The 45-year-old said she has since been diagnosed with the flu: “I was taken to [hospital] and was met by the BEST nurses and doctors... to find out what’s wrong.
“Y’all, I have the FLU and let me tell [you] it’s worse than Covid in my opinion,” she continued. “I’m on five different medications... please be careful. I wasn’t around a lot of people and have NO IDEA where it came from... enjoy y’all holiday AT HOME... you don’t want this.”
Braxton also said she was “completely isolated” because her illness is contagious. “I love y’all for real,” she wrote.
Her mum, Evelyn Braxton, 74, wrote in the comments section: “Love you. Get well soon Tamar.”
Braxton joined VH1’s The Surreal Life this year, marking her return to reality TV. She told E! Online in October: “Here we are intoducing to the world Tamar 2.0 and I think that you’re really going to enjoy this one.”
In 2020, Braxton confirmed that she attempted suicide that summer and called out reality TV for “toxic exploitation”.
She was taken to hospital on 16 July after being found unresponsive in a Los Angeles hotel suite by her boyfriend, and later told fans that she had attempted to take her own life.
“Mental illness is real,” she wrote. “We have to normalise acknowledging it and stop associating it with shame and humiliation. The pain that I have experienced over the past 11 years has slowly [eaten] away at my spirit and my mental [health] … It was only God’s grace and His mercy on my attempt to end my pain and my life that I am here to utilise my voice.”
Braxton also wrote that she had been “betrayed, taken advantage of, overworked and underpaid” throughout her time on reality television. She cited it as the source of her mental illness, and pledged to help “those who [suffer] from mental illness, including those of us [whose] mental illness was only a result from the toxic, systematic bondage that dwells [in] television.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support. You can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
