Award-winning musician Judith Sephuma is grateful to be alive after surviving two visits to the ICU that had those close to her fearing for her life‚ and saw her dedicate her life to being more healthy.

The star revealed to TshisaLIVE that she was admitted to hospital two years ago and treated for high blood pressure.

“I was rushed to ICU a few times but during my most recent hospitalisation‚ I heard them say that I was going to die. I told myself that I needed to look after my body and if I made it I would do everything in my power to make sure that I was healthier and never return (to ICU)‚” she said.

She explained that she was first treated for extreme heartburn before doctors discovered that she had high blood pressure which had enlarged her organs.

“I was travelling to Nelspruit when I was rushed to hospital thinking I had extreme heartburn. They treated me for it but when I got back to Johannesburg‚ I could hardly walk and I was rushed back to hospital where doctors discovered that I had high blood pressure and my organs were inflated‚” she added.

Judith’s “near-death experience” motivated her to make several lifestyle changes and inspired her to learn to swim.

“Learning to swim was always on my bucket list but I never felt like I had enough time to learn. In the last two years‚ I have started running more and now I have taken up swimming. I have to look after myself and this is just another way to do that‚” she said.

She said her children are overjoyed at the thought of their mom joining them in the pool this summer and said she was loving the thrill of learning to swim.

“The scariest part for me was putting my head in the water but once I got used to it‚ I loved the feeling. I am a real water baby‚” Judith said.