‘This is not fake. It’s not a hoax,’: Ray J’s mom stresses the severity of Ray J’s heart condition
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Sonja Norwood, Ray J’s mother, addresses the people who think her son is “faking his health concerns, or it’s a hoax.”
Mama Norwood is entering the chatter about her son’s health. This week Sonja Norwood, Ray J and Brandy’s mother took to Facebook to address the growing speculation about her son’s recent public health issues.
“It’s just really gotten out of hand when someone thinks that my son is faking his health, or it’s a hoax, or he’s just playing around, [and] he’s not really serious about it,” the star’s mother said on Facebook Live. “All of you who have been genuinely concerned about him and genuinely prayed for him, I want to say I thank you very much for that, because it takes multiple prayers and thoughts for things to change.”
“Never in my lifetime would I have thought that there would be someone as close to us that would experience some type of heart condition,” she continued.
On Jan. 6, she recalls receiving a call from Ray J’s friend notifying her that he had been hospitalized in Las Vegas for what everyone thought was pneumonia. However, when she flew out to Vegas, she says the “One Wish” star was experiencing chills, severe chest pain, and was unable to move. He was later diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes the heart to have a harder time pumping blood to the rest of the body which can lead to symptoms of heart failure.
“[Tests] indicated that he had a serious heart disease, where blood flow was 15 to 20% to his heart. Now, anybody who knows that they understand that that is a very serious condition,” she explained. “It was so scary and serious that every other word that was explained to us was ‘This is life-threatening.’ It’s like that [word] rings in my ear: life-threatening. We were told that if he had not checked himself into that hospital, he could have had a heart attack.”
Norwood’s video comes weeks after Ray J revealed that his “health is not OK,” saying that his heart is “only beating 25 percent.” Shortly after his sobering health update, the star shocked fans when he appeared on stage in Louisiana with a heart monitor and blood running from his eyes. Though he was wearing sunglasses on stage, the bloody tears sparked conflicting reports as a photographer told local NBC affiliate KTAL 6 that the “blood” fans saw was nothing more than a costume choice. Meanwhile, members of Ray J’s team shut down the clout-chasing allegation, saying:
“The bottom line is Ray J has been in and out of the hospital dealing with health and heart issues,” his manager, Melinda Santiago, said in response to the claims. “That is a fact.”
His mother echoed this in her Facebook livestream, explaining that though fans may still see Ray J performing and streaming, “he has to do it with limitations.”
“So I’m just asking you guys to continue to pray for him. This is not fake. It’s not a hoax. It’s not him trying to get attention. It’s not him making fun of any person with heart disease. It’s not any of that. He’s trying to adjust to a condition that he has, and I’m hoping he doesn’t go too far, thinking that he feels better,” she concluded. “This is a serious situation. He is better. He will improve.”