Hours before she was meant to hit the stage at the Mall of America, JoJo Siwa suddenly found herself in a very different spotlight: the harsh lights of a hospital ER. The 22-year-old performer was slammed with what she called “excruciating” stomach pain and struggled to breathe, to the point she thought she might pass out. What started as a normal morning before a concert spiraled into a full-blown medical emergency that left fans terrified and JoJo fighting just to stay conscious.
When a Bath Turns Into a Warning Sign
JoJo later explained that the pain had been building, but she tried to power through it like she usually does. She lay down, tried to relax, and eventually decided to take a bath to see if it would help. Instead, things went from bad to unbearable. Just a few minutes in the tub, the pain skyrocketed “a hundred times worse.” She felt like she was going to throw up, started to black out, and realized this wasn’t something she could walk off or ignore. Her body was sending a very loud message: something was seriously wrong.
A Tough Girl Who Finally Said “Call 911”
JoJo likes to remind people she’s “a very, very tough girl,” and if you’ve seen her perform, you know that’s true. So when she told her mom, Jessalynn, that it was time to call 911, that was a huge red flag. Jessalynn had to help her get dressed because the pain was so intense, then get her into an ambulance bound for a Minnesota hospital. For fans, the photo of JoJo on a stretcher was gut-wrenching — a rare moment where the always-smiling, glitter-covered star looked small, vulnerable, and completely human.
The Diagnosis: A Burst Ovarian Cyst
Once she got to the hospital, doctors got to work trying to figure out what was causing the agony. After scans and an ultrasound, they finally had an answer: a cyst on her ovary had burst and was bleeding into her abdomen. That kind of rupture can cause sudden, severe pain and difficulty breathing — exactly what JoJo had been dealing with. The good news? It was something that, in her case, the doctors believed would resolve on its own with careful monitoring, pain management, and rest. The bad news? It hurts like nothing most people have ever felt.
Dancing in a Hospital Bed
Once the pain medication kicked in and she knew what was going on, JoJo’s personality started to shine back through. She joked that after the doctors treated her, she was literally dancing in her hospital bed. It’s very on-brand for someone whose life motto is basically “the show must go on.” Even lying on a hospital gurney, IV in her arm, she was still thinking about the fans waiting for her at the mall and asking the doctors if there was any way she could still make it to the performance.
“There Are People Counting On This Performance”
In her TikTok recap of the ordeal, JoJo said she and her team were very honest with the doctors: if she needed emergency surgery or something life-threatening was happening, they’d obviously cancel, no question. But if there was a safe way to treat the pain and let her perform, she wanted that option on the table. She knew there were a lot of people at the Mall of America “waiting and counting” on her show, and that sense of responsibility weighed on her even while she was curled over in pain. It’s a glimpse into how seriously she takes her career — and the expectations of her young fans.
Back on Stage Like Nothing Happened
Incredibly, after being treated and cleared, JoJo left the hospital and headed straight to the venue. Later clips showed her giving a high-energy performance, belting out hits (including her holiday track) like she hadn’t just been in an ambulance earlier that day. It’s the kind of comeback that makes you shake your head in disbelief: one moment she’s nearly blacking out in the bathtub, the next she’s under stage lights, smiling and bouncing around like normal. If anyone ever doubted her work ethic, this night erased it.
Gratitude for Nurses, Doctors… and Worried Fans
In her updates, JoJo went out of her way to shout out the hospital staff who moved quickly to treat her. She said they worked fast to get her out of pain and even joked that some might’ve rushed things because their daughters were fans. Alongside the humor, there was serious gratitude: for the doctors who found the cyst, the nurses who cared for her, and the fans who flooded her comments with worry and love. She made it clear she’s not 100% yet and might need to go back if the pain flares up again — but for now, she’s better, she’s home, and she’s listening closely to her body.
A Reminder That Even Brightest Stars Have Fragile Bodies
Part of why this story hit so hard is because of who JoJo is to so many people: the high-energy, bow-wearing kid from Dance Moms who grew into a full-blown pop star and LGBTQ+ icon, always bouncing, always smiling, always “on.” It’s easy to forget that underneath the glitter and choreography is a 22-year-old human being with organs, hormones, and health scares just like anyone else. Her burst ovarian cyst is a powerful reminder that serious medical issues can strike suddenly — even in the middle of a tour, even when you’re young, even when you’re famous.
Listening to Your Body Is the Real Power Move
In true JoJo fashion, she turned the whole ordeal into something bigger than herself: a mini lesson about listening to your body and taking pain seriously. She tried to push through, but when things got terrifying, she asked for help — and that decision might have prevented something far worse. For fans watching her TikTok, it’s not just a dramatic story; it’s a blueprint. Being “tough” doesn’t mean ignoring your symptoms. Sometimes the bravest, boldest thing you can do… is call 911, get in the ambulance, and let the doctors take the stage for a while.
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