Selling Sunset star Amanza Smith has revealed shocking details about how close she came to death while recently battling a spinal infection.
The 46-year-old real estate agent spoke to People about her battle with the potentially deadly infection osteomyelitis, which left her hospitalized for a month after it was discovered in May.
She shared how she first realized something was wrong when she developed excruciating back pain that didn’t go away for nearly a month, until it got so bad that she collapsed one night at her Los Angeles home.
After a visit to the hospital, her doctor told her, “Another day or two at home and you could have been dead.”
“I thought I had back pain and almost died,” Amanza shared. “The doctors and my boyfriend saved my life.”
Near death: Selling Sunset star Amanza Smith, 46, told People a doctor told her she was just “a day or two” from death after suffering from vertebral osteomyelitis this summer; seen July 28 in Bel Air
Fatal: She had suffered from back pain for a month before collapsing at home. After a friend took her to the hospital, she was diagnosed with the disease, which kills one in five people with the disease
Even after her fall at home, Smith waited five days before allowing a close friend to take her to the hospital on June 2.
An MRI was performed upon her arrival, which revealed that she suffered from vertebral osteomyelitis. According to the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the condition is an infection of the spine and adjacent tissues.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, about one in five people affected will die from it, although diagnosis and treatment have improved in recent years.
Unfortunately, Amanza’s chances were not good as the condition was far advanced when doctors discovered it.
She was put on antibiotic therapy and had to have surgery on her lower back to “remove the infection from the bones,” but the infection was more advanced than doctors realized. Smith said it had spread forward from the back of her spine, which was harder to reach and more dangerous during surgery.
“It was near my aorta and my kidney,” Amanza said, explaining the doctors’ initial reluctance to operate there.
However, her hopes that the antibiotics could defeat the rest were dashed as her vertebrae continued to deteriorate.
“The risk was that the antibiotics wouldn’t penetrate the bone and my entire back could collapse,” she said.
Worse than it seemed: Doctors tried to operate on her lower back, but the infection had spread to the front of her spine
Seriously, “It was near my aorta and my kidney,” Amanza said, explaining the doctors’ initial reluctance to operate there
To prevent further deterioration, doctors performed a six-hour marathon surgery, fitting her with a titanium mesh cage alongside her spine, and metal rods and screws to hold the bones in place.
Smith felt more optimistic now that she had climbed the mountain, and she joked that she was now “an iron woman with rods and bolts.”
Although she was inducted on June 5 of that year, she wasn’t finally released until nearly a month later, on July 3.
However, their treatments are far from over. She must remain on a course of antibiotics, minimize exertion, and have physical therapy sessions for nearly five months to return to normal strength and mobility.
“There’s so many things I can’t do because I can’t lift more than five pounds,” Smith admitted, noting that even her “purse is too heavy” for her to safely carry when she be crowded.
Though grateful to be alive and on the road to recovery, she was impatient to return to living as she knew.
“You can’t rush time, but I’m very interested in being able to do the things I love to do,” Amanza said. “I like to decorate. I like to rearrange. “I want to be able to hang things, but right now I’m very limited.”
But she added that her battle with osteomyelitis has given her a new perspective on friendship and life.
‘Iron Woman’: After antibiotics failed to clear the infection, she had to undergo six-hour marathon surgery to clear it. It added a titanium mesh cage and metal rods and screws to hold her spine in place
She has a long road ahead of her: she returned home after a month in hospital but will have to take antibiotics and undergo physical therapy for six months while not being allowed to carry anything over five pounds
“You know who your friends are when you become a liability,” she said. “It’s like a rebirth.” I will never take my mobility for granted again. “If I can walk and jog and do Pilates or ballet again, I hope to stick with it because I plan to live to be 107.”
Amanza seems to be doing everything in her power to lead a full life again.
Earlier this month, she announced she’s dating a new man and made the relationship official on Instagram with a sweet video of the two kissing, specifically not mentioning his name.
The new romance follows her split from Dutch soccer player Ryan Babel in December 2022, with whom she dated for three years.
She was previously married to former NFL player Ralph Brown from 2010 to 2012, with whom she shares their 13-year-old daughter, Noah, and their 11-year-old son, Braker.
According to Smith, her ex-husband was a committed father for years after the divorce, although after just a year and a half he wasn’t paying child support, and Smith claimed on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that he quickly “got nuts” about his money ‘ after retiring from the NFL.
His last contact with him is said to have been in 2019, when he emailed her days after dropping her children off at school, in which she claimed he wrote: “My situation is not good at the moment. “I cannot financially take care of the children. It’s not safe for her to be with me. You must keep them until my situation changes.’
Smith has claimed that not even Brown’s family would tell her his whereabouts, and they allegedly blocked her after she tried to contact them.
Instagram official: She revealed earlier this month that she was dating a new man in a video of them kissing, but didn’t reveal his name
Mysterious man: She was previously married to retired NFL player Ralph Brown but he disappeared from her life in 2019, although he is believed to be still alive; seen in 2009
However, despite the unusual circumstances, police do not believe he is missing as there is no evidence linking his disappearance and he emailed her saying he was out of reach .
A change of address application to the court responsible for the couple’s custody and maintenance also revealed that he was still alive.
During an August 2020 conversation with Entertainment Tonight, Smith said she had considered the possibility that Brown might have chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a worsening brain condition that can be caused by repeated head trauma and concussions. Several other NFL players were affected and have been implicated in multiple player suicides.
However, there is no clear evidence that Brown suffered from this disease.