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Demi Lovato had three strokes and heart attack after 2018 overdose – and was ‘minutes from death’

Written by on 18/02/2021

Demi Lovato has revealed that her 2018 drug overdose left her minutes from death and led to three strokes, a heart attack and brain damage.

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The 28-year-old singer was speaking ahead of the launch of her new documentary, and elaborated on the incident which almost ended her life.

She said: “I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes.”

Lovato has spoken about her addiction to drugs and alcohol in the past, but said there was still much the wider world did not know about her overdose.

In 2018, she was found unconscious in her Hollywood home, having overdose on a reported mix of opioids and fentanyl.

A few weeks previously she had debuted a song called Sober in which she sang about relapsing after being sober for six years.

Speaking on Wednesday, the former Disney Channel child star said: “For the past couple of years, I’ve heard a lot of stories about my life and what people think has happened. I wanted to set the record straight and reveal it all for my fans.”

She added that she “was left with brain damage and I still feel the effects of that” – and that she does not drive and can find reading difficult due to blurry vision.

Lovato has said in the past that she started taking cocaine when she was 17, and first entered rehab when she was 18 and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

She has also spoken about how she suffered from eating disorders.

The documentary will include Lovato talking through past traumas and also the pressures of the entertainment industry.

Dancing With The Devil is due to be released on YouTube on 23 March.

Following her overdose, Lovato made her comeback at the Grammy Awards show in January 2020, and she is now a spokesperson for the mental health app Talkspace.

(c) Sky News 2021: Demi Lovato had three strokes and heart attack after 2018 overdose – and was ‘minutes from death’