Bam Margera Details Harrowing Hospital Stay Where He Was ‘Pronounced Dead’

Bam Margera is opening up about a harrowing eight-day hospital stay last month during which he was “pronounced dead” after he suffered five violent seizures having contracted COVID-19 and pneumonia. Reuniting with his former Jackass co-star Steve-O for the latter’s Wild Ride podcast, Margera gave the gruesome details surrounding the news that broke Dec. 9 that he had been placed on a ventilator. 

“Basically, I was pronounced dead on Dec. 8,” Margera explained. “I did not know that I had gnarly COVID and my body was shutting down. I went into four seizures, each one lasting 10 to 20 minutes. On the fourth one I bit my tongue so hard it was nearly fallen off. It got so swollen and puffy it wouldn’t fit in my mouth. I was drinking the infected blood which gave me pneumonia as well.”

Margera continued, “I went to the hospital and had my fifth seizure and then couldn’t breathe without a tube down my throat. I woke up five days later thinking I was there for just a couple hours. I spent eight days in there. When they took that tube out I felt like I sucked on Darth Vader’s d—.”

Steve-O admitted that seeing his longtime friend on a ventilator in the intensive care unit in “critical but stable condition” was scary, joking that while Margera’s hospitalization did come in the middle of his tour, “The important thing is that Bam’s not dead.” 

Margera and Steve-O are just about to embark on a portion of the latter’s Bucket List tour together on Jan. 20, which is far cry from Margera’s lawsuit filed last August against Paramount and Jackass‘ Johnny Knoxville over being fired from the production of last year’s feature film Jackass Forever. Margera was fired because he broke a clause in his contract that required him to stay sober during production, but the skateboarder claimed that he was coerced into signing the “wellness agreement” for the movie while he was still in rehab. The suit also alleged that Margera was then fired after testing positive for Adderall, despite having a prescription for the drug. The lawsuit was eventually settled.