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Selena Gomez’s mom Mandy Teefey, almost lost her life while battling COVID and double pneumonia

Doctors said she might have died within days because she was functioning with “half a lung”


Senior Writer
DECEMBER 24, 2021 11:05 AM EST

Luckily for Selena Gomez’s mom, Mandy Teefey, her battle with COVID-19 and double pneumonia didn’t end in tragedy despite experiencing scary moments. During her recent Entrepreneur Magazine photoshoot alongside her daughter, Teefey almost lost consciousness due to the long-lasting damage her lungs suffered from the virus.

According to the publication, Mandy got infected while recovering from double pneumonia, and she had to be rushed to the hospital when her oxygen dropped. Doctors said she might have died within days because she was functioning with “half a lung.”

“I almost passed out doing the shoot,” she told People Magazine. “We had to break so many times, but all my friends and loved ones around me helped me get through it. I was smiling and laughing most of the time because I was going to faint. Don‘t judge how someone looks because you don’t know what‘s underneath that picture.”

Mandy also explained that she got infected with the deadly virus before getting her vaccine. “A week before I was going to get my first COVID shot, I got COVID. I was at home the whole time,” she recalled. “But when my fever broke, my oxygen went to 69, and I was rushed to the hospital.”

She also said her doctors questioned why she hadn‘t gotten the vaccine. “The first hospital was pretty badgering, like, ‘Why didn’t you get your shot?“‘ she told the publication. “I’m like, ”I literally can‘t breathe right now. Can we talk about this later? I will explain why.“’

The 45-year-old Texas native said that doctors couldn’t understand how she was breathing with her condition. “They said that had my body not responded as quickly as it did, I had two days [to live],” she revealed. “They said, ‘We don‘t know how you’ve been breathing this whole time. I made it through COVID and didn‘t lose my taste or smell or anything, but it beat up my lungs pretty hardcore.”

Doctors gave her steroids and antibiotics and showed Mandy several breathing exercises, which eventually helped her get better. “It was definitely an experience, and it wasn‘t scary until I got home. When I got home, I was like, ‘Wow, I may not have ever come back here.’ I was a lucky one,“‘ she explained.