Keala Settle Opens Up About Suffering a Stroke Weeks Before Her Performance on the Oscars

Keala Settle blew us away with her Oscars performance earlier this year, belting the iconic track This Is Me from The Greatest Showman. Now, Settle is opening up to People about something not many knew.

A week prior to the show-stopping performance, Settle suffered a mini-stroke during rehearsals, causing her to lose motor functions in half of her body. The scary situation caused doctors to diagnose her with the rare cerebrovascular disorder known as Moyamoya disease.

Settle underwent a double-bypass brain surgery to correct the problem. Six months later, she's speaking out about how this scare changed her.

"The way that I look at the world is so completely different," she told People. "I'm more at peace than I've ever been; I can find the joy in things I never could. This truly gave me another lease on life."

She described the day she felt like "half of her body turned off" suddenly in the middle of rehearsal. After going to the doctor, she decided to delay surgery so she'd still be able to perform at the Oscars.

"I'm used to working in the theater and the show must go on," she said.

Finally having the surgery about a month later presented her with new challenges.

"I spent the entire first month doing a lot of cognitive and physical therapy to relearn how to walk, talk, write, and live life again," she said.

While Settle's condition is not curable, she has been placed on medication that she will need to take for the rest of her life, to help prevent situations like this from happening again.

Read more on People and watch Settle's incredible performance of This Is Me from the Oscars here!