TLC Star Reveals Serious Hospitalization: Update on Jeremiah Raber’s Condition

Jeremiah Raber, star of TLC’s Breaking Amish and Return to Amish, had fans worried last month with a series of posts indicating he was in the hospital for an extended time. The reality star set the record straight in a video posted on TikTok on April 13. After a handful of interconnected health issues, he said that he was on the road to recovery at last.

Raber posted a view of the emergency room entrance on April 3 set to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight,” followed by a photo of himself in a hospital bed on April 11 set to MercyMe’s “Better Days Coming.” On Monday, April 13, he posted a video of himself reacting angrily to a fan who asked he was hospitalized for a drug overdose, and later that day he finally set the record straight. Back outside in his own clothes, Raber said he wanted to let fans know what had been going on.

“So, I went to the heart doctor, and he told me that I need to be in the emergency room ASAP,” he began. “I ended up going to the emergency room, when I got there I was very weak, shaky. They took me in the back, they checked my heart rate, which was 139, they checked my blood pressure, which was 140-something over 100-something, I can’t remember the exact numbers. But they instantly thought it was sepsis, but luckily that got ruled out.”

It took some time for doctors and nurses to get to the bottom of Raber’s condition, as he explained: “I ended up staying there for two days, three days… I ended up having ketoacidosis, which is DKA, and then also they said there was an infection, because my white blood cells were extremely high… So they ended up giving me some antibiotics while I was there, and that cleared the infection – whatever it was.”

Diabeter Ketoacidosis, or DKA, is a life-threatening condition common among people with Type 1 Diabetes, but also possible for people with Type 2 Diabetes. According to a report by the CDC, the condition is caused by a shortage of insulin. The body needs insulin to transfer blood sugar into the cells where it can be used as energy. When that process is cut off, the liver breaks down fat for fuel, which creates acids known as ketones. A build-up of ketones can be deadly, but it can lead to a slew of recognizable symptoms that will hopefully lead patients to the hospital, as it did for Raber.

“But yeah, I am back home, I’m feeling way better,” Raber concluded. “So hopefully everything will go better now. I appreciate everybody praying and keeping me in your thoughts. Hopefully this explains what was going on and answers a lot of your questions.”

Raber has been a staple of TLC since 2012 when he was first introduced on Breaking Amish, a series about people who leave Anabaptist communities to experience life in New York City. Return to Amish is a spinoff following cast members who have returned to their hometowns and have struggled or failed to reintegrate. The latest season premiered last spring and it is not clear if more episodes will be produced. Return to Amish is streaming now on Max.