Spice Opens Up About Sepsis Battle And How Her Near-Death Experience Inspired New Gospel Single

Spice is reflecting on the harrowing health crisis that nearly took her life and how that trauma transformed into a spiritual awakening.

In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE the dancehall icon shared the heavy inspiration behind her latest gospel track, “God Don’t Play About Me.” The song serves as a direct response to her 2022 medical emergency in the Dominican Republic, a time when she found herself fighting for survival far from her children, Nicholas and Nicholatoy.

The “Love and Hip Hop: Atlanta” star described the terrifying moment her health spiraled out of control. “One of my intestines opened up and sent my body into sepsis shock,” Spice recalled. “I had to do an emergency surgery to perform a hernia repair. They had to cut my body open from top down.” The severity of the infection quickly became life-threatening as it spread throughout her system. “The sepsis was attacking my lungs and my organs, lungs, liver, and all of that,” she continues. “My body was becoming poisonous.”

While she was incapacitated, Spice recalls her sister playing Jekalyn Carr’s “You’re Bigger” by her bedside, a song she credits with pulling her back from the brink. The recovery was a long road involving seven different surgeries, the final one occurring in 2024. Spice revealed that her medical team was stunned by her resilience. “I’ve always had a close relationship with God, and my near-death experience just brought me closer to Him,” said Spice. “The word tells you that you have to taste and see to know that He’s God. My testimony blew me out of the water because even the doctors themselves were calling families to tell them to come say their goodbyes to me. So not even they could believe the miracle that happened.”

Her devotion remained constant even while she was under the knife. She shared that surgeons often heard her phone alarm go off during procedures, a reminder she set to ensure she never missed a moment of prayer. Despite the physical toll, including severe damage to her midsection, Spice says she is now “perfectly healthy” and avoided the skin grafting doctors insisted was necessary. The sepsis ate my entire skin from my belly area. I’ve shared those images with my fans because I wanted them to see the goodness of God,” she says. Doctors called in a plastic surgeon, saying that I would need skin grafting because of how damaged my skin was. Thanks be to God, my skin grew back to its normal form, and I didn’t have to do any skin grafting.”

Now living in Atlanta, Spice is using her massive platform to encourage her fans to find their own spiritual connection. She hopes “God Don’t Play About Me” inspires the same energy her dancehall hits do, but with a focus on worship. “It brought me closer to God and I have a more spiritual connection,” she says. I read my Bible more, I worship more, I pray more. I’m more strict with how I show up when it comes to worshiping.” She concludes by sharing her vision for the track: “I have a large platform and I want my fans to be able to get up and worship God. Part of me wants to see them worshiping God the same way they would get up and sing any of my other songs.”

Spice’s journey from a hospital bed in the Caribbean to a clean bill of health stands as a powerful testament to her faith and the strength that led to her creative rebirth.