Bam Margera is opening up about the life threatening health scare that made him realize he needed to change.
During a recent appearance on Living Proof Radio, the former Jackass star spoke about his struggles with addiction, the personal challenges he faced over the years, and the medical emergency that left him fighting for his life before he decided to take sobriety seriously.
Margera shared that he had tried several treatment programs before leaving the United States in hopes of getting away from drugs and alcohol. He first traveled to Lithuania, where he said buying a bottle of vodka every day became part of his routine. In 2017, he later moved to Barcelona, Spain, hoping to reconnect with skateboarding by learning how to skate again.
Despite getting back on his board, the change in scenery did not stop him from returning to old habits. Reflecting on that period, Margera said, "When I got home, I got back into a drinking and a drug rut thing."
As time went on, his health continued to decline. Margera explained that everything reached a breaking point after he suffered five seizures, each lasting about 20 minutes.
"My last straw was just going into five seizures at 20 minutes apiece."
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He said the seizures came after dealing with several difficult situations at once, including a custody battle involving his son, legal issues connected to the Jackass franchise, repeated stays in treatment facilities, and increasing drug and alcohol use. According to Margera, the combination became too much for his body to handle.
Recalling what happened next, he said, "On the fifth seizure, my shaman, my best friend, took me to the Escondido hospital, where I woke up eight days later on life support with a tube down my throat with COVID and pneumonia because I couldn't breathe on my own."
When Margera regained consciousness, he said he had no idea how long he had been in the hospital. He remembered being greeted by a nurse who recognized him and became emotional.
"(She) said, 'You've been here for eight days and I know I'm not a nurse and not supposed to show emotion, but I really didn't think you were going to make it out of this.'"
Hearing those words forced him to think about the direction his life was heading.
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"I was like, 'Dude, my lifestyle has to change. I'm either definitely going to die this way, which I'm almost cool with, or I've got to switch, now.'"
Margera also credited his wife, Dannii, for helping him stay focused on sobriety. He said she strongly dislikes drugs and alcohol and told him she would divorce him if he relapsed.
"I need that," he proclaimed.
Looking back on his earlier years, Margera said alcohol and drugs were not part of his life before he became famous. As a young skateboarder, he spent his teenage years and early adulthood focusing on skating while many of his peers were partying.
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"I spent all of high school and all those college years that I didn't go to college, but all those years that other people were getting drunk and partying, I was staying sober and skating my ass off."
Today, Margera views surviving multiple seizures, an eight day coma, COVID, and pneumonia as the moment that finally convinced him to change his lifestyle and commit to staying sober.
Watch the interview below.