Swizz Beatz Told He Might “Never Walk Again” After Health Scare – VIBE.com

Swizz Beatz’s habit of exhausting himself with work is nothing new, as the producer opened up on The Jennifer Hudson Show this week about the early career health scare that almost took his ability to walk.

“When you come from nothing, and you finally get success, get a piece of what you thought you could never get from your surroundings — we just have a habit of going hard as men, you know, and it caught up to me,” Swizzy, 44, told Hudson. “I remember staying up for four days straight just over-pushing it. It messed up my immune system — I had spinal meningitis.”

The hitmaker went on, “And I remember going to the hospital, and the doctor was cold. He was cold as ice. As soon as I walked in, he said, ‘okay, you might not die, but you’ll never walk again.’ That was the first thing they said to me when I went into the hospital.”

“But I was in so much pain, I was like, ‘let’s get on to it.’ But, Alhamdulillah [Praise be to Allah], I came back, and I beat the odds with that one,” he shared. “And now, I try to take my health a little bit more serious.”

Swizz, born Kasseem Dean, has been in great sprits as of late, hosting an album release party for his latest project, Hip Hop 50: Vol 2 at Veronika/Fotografiska NYC Monday night. The album is the second installment in the series, following the first entirely produced by DJ Premier.