R&B star Jeremih is on the road to recovery after contracting the novel coronavirus earlier this month.
The “Birthday Sex” singer, whose real name is Jeremy Felton, had been placed in the intensive care unit at a Chicago hospital and was breathing with the assistance of a ventilator after falling ill with the deadly disease.
On Saturday, Nov. 21, the family of the 33 year old confirmed that he was now out of ICU just one week after news of his sickness was announced. “Jeremih has been transferred out of ICU. He will spend the rest of his recovery time in a regular hospital room,” Jeremih’s family said in a statement to Entertainment Tonight. They added, “The true healing begins. Thank you all for your prayers and wishes.”
Jeremih’s mother, Gwenda Starling, spoke with ABC7 Chicago on Sunday, Nov. 22, about the experience and how relieved she was about her son’s recovery. “I get so teary-eyed, but I get so joyful at the same time because he’s pulling through,” Starling said. She added, “We’ve been praying that he can be home by Thanksgiving. It may be a bit much to ask God, but I figure we’ve been asking for everything else.”
Jeremih’s mom also shared one of the most challenging moments in her son’s battle, saying that “things seemed like, all of a sudden, to attack his body.” She continued, “That virus viciously attacked every organ in his body. His body was shutting down, and they were telling me every day for a week that he just wasn’t getting better. It was a tremendous nightmare. The whole family was just saddened and just shocked, first of all. After we got out of that whole shock thing, it was like ‘Ok, we’ve got to pray.’ ” It’s unclear if Jeremih still has COVID-19.
The “773 Love” singer had been hospitalized since Nov. 5, according to the outlet. However, word on the star’s health began to spread after several of the singer’s friends like Chance the Rapper and 50 Cent reached out to fans online asking for prayers and well wishes as the artist fought off the sickness. They continued to share updates, including Chance, who revealed on Twitter that Jeremih was doing better on Thursday, Nov. 18, although the rapper didn’t go into great detail.
“FATHER YOU GET ALL THE GLORY!!!” he wrote. “JESUS THANK YOU FOR GRANTING US ACCESS TO OUR FATHER! THANK YOU TO ALL THE PRAYER WARRIORS WHO USED THEIR FAVOR TO INTERCEDE ON MY BROTHER JEREMYS BEHALF! WE COME TO HIM IN SORROW AND SO WE MUST TO COME TO HIM IN JOY! I LOVE YOU FATHER.”
