Sarah Silverman reveals brush with death: 'I'm insanely lucky to be alive'

Sarah Silverman, pictured with partner Michael Sheen, says she's lucky to be alive after a surprise illness. Photo/Splash News

Sarah Silverman is "lucky to be alive" after spending a week in intensive care.

The 45-year-old comedian was rushed to hospital after suffering from an inflamed epiglottitis, which is a flap of tissue which sits in the mouth; the condition can lead to breathing difficulties.

Sharing her story, she wrote on her Facebook page: "I was in the ICU all of last week and I am insanely lucky to be alive. Don't even know why I went to the doctor, it was just a sore throat. But I had a freak case of epiglottitis. I owe my life to Dr. Shawn Nasseri, Dr. Robert Naruse, Dr. Rob Huizenga, every nurse, and every technician & orderly at Cedars who's punch-the-clock jobs happen to save human lives on the regular.

Hi. This is me telling everyone in my life at once why I haven't been around. This will not interest everyone so feel...

Posted by Sarah Silverman on Wednesday, 6 July 2016

"There's something that happens when three people you're so close to die within a year and then YOU almost die but don't. (That was me. I'm the one that didn't die.) It's a strange dichotomy between, 'Why me?' and the other, 'Why me?' (sic)"

Silverman, who is dating Michael Sheen, also recalled some of the treatments she had to endure, revealing her hands were restrained at one point so she didn't pull her breathing tube out.

She added: "They couldn't put me fully to sleep for the recovery process because my blood pressure's too low. I was drugged just enough to not feel the pain and have no idea what was happening or where I was. They had to have my hands restrained to keep me from pulling out my breathing tube. My friend Stephanie said I kept writing 'was I in an accident?' (sic)"

- Bang! Showbiz