Madonna discusses her 'near death experience' when she had bacterial infection and discusses waking from coma

Madonna has opened up about the "near death experience" she had when she had a serious bacterial infection last year, revealing the one word she said when she woke up from a coma.

The pop icon had to reschedule the North American leg of The Celebration Tour in July as a result of her illness, and also spent four days in an induced coma.

The seven-time Grammy winner, aged 65, has shared details of her stint in intensive care on her first of five nights at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, telling the audience: “This summer, I had a surprise. It’s called a near death experience.”

“I’m not kidding. It was pretty scary – obviously, I didn’t know for four days because I was in an induced coma, but when I woke up, the first word I said was, ‘No’. Anyway, that’s what my assistant tells me."

She went on to say she felt like she had spoken to God. "And I’m pretty sure God was saying to me, ‘You want to come with us? You want to come with me? You want to go this way?’ And I said, ‘No, no'."

Mum-of-six Madonna went on to thank a “very special man” who helped her at the time, her doctor David Agus, who was standing in the audience. “This man has put up with so many irritating phone calls from me,” the US singer told the crowd.

“When I was sick this summer, and I literally couldn’t walk from my bed to the toilet, I would call him every other day and ask him why I didn’t have any energy when my energy was going to come back, when was I going to feel myself again, when could I go back on tour again.

“All he would say is, ‘Go outside in the sun. You need vitamin D, and your kidneys will keep working'."

Recalling her difficult recovery journey, she added: “It was so hard for me to walk from my house to the backyard and sit in the sun.

“I didn’t know when I could get up again and when I could be myself again. It was a strange thing to finally not feel like I was in control. That was my lesson to let go.”

The Queen of Pop also previously praised her children for supporting her while she was ill.