Jet Li Reveals He Nearly Died 3 Times: Altitude Sickness Led to Incontinence
Published atSep 06, 2025 04:13 pm
Martial arts star Jet Li was recently hospitalized, with photos circulating online showing him lying on a hospital bed. The caption read: “I’ve recently gone through another rare ordeal,” causing concern among fans. He later explained that a lump was found in his neck, and after examination, it was confirmed to be a benign tumor. He decided to undergo surgery for its removal. Afterwards, he posted a video to reassure fans, also sharing that he had experienced three brushes with death in the past, frankly stating: “I was once also very afraid of death.”
Jet Li recalled that the first time was when he encountered a tsunami: “The tsunami happened so quickly, there was absolutely no time to react. Suddenly the water was at my legs, and then in a second up to my chest and neck. You simply can’t react, it’s just over. If it came one more time, I would have died. At the time, I didn’t know what was happening—it all happened in a panic or a state of helplessness.” The second time was falling from a high platform.The second was during the filming of the movie “Fearless,” when he fell from a high platform. Luckily, the stuntmen on site saved him in time and prevented him from landing on his head. He recounted: “If I really fell headfirst, even if I didn’t die, I’d be crippled.” The third time was at Yaqing Monastery in Sichuan, where altitude sickness led to incontinence due to breathing difficulties.As for the third time, it was when he went for meditation retreat at Yaqing Monastery in Sichuan at an altitude of 4,300 meters. On the fifth day, he developed breathing difficulties due to altitude sickness. He shared: “One night, I couldn’t breathe and had to get up and meditate. While sitting, I started to lose control of my bladder and bowels—it was uncontrollable.” Eventually, after descending the mountain and returning to lower altitude, his physical condition returned to normal.
Jet Li admitted that after experiencing these events, he gradually came to understand that ‘software’ (the mind) can affect the ‘hardware’ (the body), especially when being treated for hyperthyroidism, when he once worried about losing his voice permanently. However, after more than a decade of spiritual practice, he learned to calmly face his recent surgery: “I’m in a completely different state now. I’ve been continuously training myself to observe my mental state. I’m not at all worried about the hardware, I just watch the software, observe how it changes—that’s it; it’s not complicated.”
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