Madonna shares statement on health scare recovery: ‘I realised how lucky I am to be alive’

Madonna has thanked her friends, peers and family for their support a month after she was hospitalised for a serious bacterial infection that saw her postpone her Celebration global tour.

In an Instagram post, she described their love as “the best medicine” and said “when the chips were down my children really showed up for me. I saw a side to them I had never seen before. It made all the difference.” She shared photos of herself with two of her six children, Lourdes Leon and David Banda.

Th 64-year-old pop star had been set to kick off her ambitious retrospective tour, marking her 40 years in the music industry, on 15 July in Vancouver.

On 28 June, her longtime manager Guy Oseary shared a statement saying that she had developed a serious bacterial infection “which led to a several-day stay in the ICU. Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected.”

Madonna paid tribute to Oseary in her post. The manager appeared to have given her a gift of a Polaroid taken by Andy Warhol of Keith Haring wearing a jacket painted with Michael Jackson’s face, which she described as “a perfect triangle of brilliance … artists who touched so many lives including my own”.

Madonna said she sobbed when she opened the gift “because I realised how lucky I am to be alive. And how fortunate I am to have known these people and so many others who are also gone.”

The UK leg of the Celebration tour is scheduled to commence with four nights at the O2 Arena in London beginning 14 October.

Earlier in July, Madonna said she was “on the road to recovery” and that “my focus now is my health.”

She added: “I did not want to disappoint anyone who bought tickets for my tour. I also didn’t want to let down the people who worked tirelessly with me over the last few months to create my show. I hate to disappoint anyone.”