Bam Margera Reveals The Near Death Experience That Changed His Relationship With Sobriety

Bam Margera has opened up about the medical crisis he says forced him to seriously rethink the direction of his life.

Appearing on Living Proof Radio, former Jackass and Viva La Bam star Bam Margera detailed years of escalating substance use, failed attempts to get clean and the moment everything finally caught up with him (per Loudwire).

According to Margera, he had previously entered treatment programs in the United States before leaving the country in an effort to distance himself from alcohol and drugs, he travelled through places including Lithuania and later spent time in Barcelona, where he focused on getting back into skateboarding.

Change of scenery didn’t help

But changing scenery didn’t solve the underlying problem.

“When I got home, I got back into a drinking and a drug rut thing,” Margera explained.

Things eventually reached a breaking point, “My last straw was just going into five seizures at 20 minutes apiece.”

Margera said a combination of legal pressures, family stress, treatment attempts and ongoing substance use left his body overwhelmed.

“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 he regained consciousness, Margera said a nurse told him she genuinely didn’t believe he was going to survive.

“(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.’”

That experience became a line in the sand.

“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, as an important source of accountability, explaining that staying sober now means protecting the life he wants to keep, he said the experience ultimately reframed how he looks at addiction, recovery and what comes next.