Quinton Aaron has been discharged from the hospital nearly one week after being admitted for type A influenza and walking pneumonia — and he credits the power of prayer and a dose of good magic with his recovery, the actor tells Us Weekly exclusively.
According to the star’s best friend, director Liana Mendoza, when she found out he was sick she enlisted a higher power: her belief in brujería, which she calls an “ancient witch doctor style of healing.”
“There’s a good side which is what we believe in,” she told Us. “[Quinton] was doing really well. But I’ve been noticing a trend that every time he’s scheduled to start a project, he gets ill,” she added of her friend and collaborator of 15 years, who was set to start a new film soon, This Is Not a Documentary. “We weren’t sure what was going on. He and his family believe that some type of spiritual entity was affecting his success.”
The Blind Side actor, 40, checked into a Southern California medical facility on February 27 after suffering from “scary” symptoms, including sweating, chills and coughing up blood, which led to an emergency call to 911.
“It was crazy. It started very suddenly where I just started having coughs and I was in a daze like I took some edibles or something, and I didn’t. I felt I was on something,” Aaron told Us the day he was scheduled to leave the hospital on Wednesday, March 5.
“I am coughing, coughing, coughing, I’m sweating, I’m cold and freezing, and I thought, ‘What’s going on?’ It just came out of nowhere,” he recalled. “I woke up in the middle of the night and go to spit up and it’s red. I’m like, ‘Whoa.’ It tripped me out because I watch a lot of Grey’s Anatomy and Chicago Med, and when they cough up red stuff, something is wrong.”
Aaron’s wife, Maggie, told Us that she felt something was “spiritually attacking” her husband and believed it was worth trying an alternative to conventional medicine.
After antibiotics didn’t seem to help, Mendoza said a healer came to the hospital on Tuesday, March 4, to perform a spiritual cleansing known as limpia to rid the body of negative energy. From there, she said, Aaron began “turning the corner.”
“At first, he was hesitant,” Mendoza said, “and we educated him and he said, ‘Let’s go ahead with it and try it. I’ll try anything.’ I know it’s weird and bizarre, but it’s what we believe and it’s turning proof-positive.”
Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron starred in the biographical sports film The Blind Side, bringing a supposed true story to life. The Blind Side was based on Michael Lewis’ 2006 book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. The movie, released in November 2009, followed athlete Michael Oher’s (Aaron) journey to the NFL after being […]
Aaron told Us that he believes the spiritual healing worked wonders.
“I didn’t pick up on it being spiritual warfare at first, but I am Christian and I go to church and believe in the power of prayer. And when these things happen in life I tend to go to God. Everything plays a part,” he added. “Faith without works is dead. I do believe the healing worked.”
“I feel amazing. I got my energy back,” Aaron continued. “With any sickness there’s a lingering cough that sits around, but everything else feels 100 percent. I have no fever or migraine. I had a four-day migraine. I’m a 6-foot-8 [man] who had never dealt with migraines before. I was a big baby. It was no walk in the park.”
Aaron first told the public about his illness on Monday, March 3, via a statement on his Facebook page, recorded in his hospital room.
“The hospital staff has been incredible, delivering exceptional care and compassion,” he assured fans. “I’m excited to get back to my normal self soon. Because the fevers and Migraines are No Bueno! lol Just Saying.”
He added to Us: “What I remember throughout my life is every time things got tough and too hard to handle, [God] was there. He’s been there when I needed him most several times. Even though this thing happening to me is scary, I trust that God has my back.”
