Hank Williams Jr. has said he is a "very blessed and thankful man" when looking back on his near-fatal fall while hiking 48 years ago.
Williams was 26 years old when he fell more than 500 feet while hiking Ajax Peak in Montana on Aug. 8, 1975, according to USA Today. The singer-songwriter had just finished recording his breakthrough album, "Hank Williams Jr. & Friends," when he suffered the fall.
A helicopter was forced to land a quarter-mile away from the accident scene. The rescue took six hours in total and six men were needed to carry Williams to the helicopter, which airlifted him to Missoula Community Hospital. He then underwent seven hours of surgery for head and facial injuries.
Taking to Instagram Tuesday, on the anniversary of the fall, Williams recalled the harrowing experience.
"48 years ago today 530 feet and 17 operations later this picture says it all," he captioned an image of the precarious drop. "I am a very blessed and thankful man."
Williams, now 74, awoke from surgery to find his godmother, June Carter Cash, and her husband Johnny Cash at his bedside.
"When I fell, there were only two people I saw when I woke up in the hospital bed, and that was Johnny and June," Williams told Rolling Stone in 2015. "June put a cross on me and told me it was all going to be OK. I never knew if I would sing again or not, talk again or not, let alone think about what I was going to look like. It was a scary time."
The artist famously referenced the incident in his 1980 song, "All in Alabama," singing about climbing "up old Ajax Mountain."
"I made it up to the top, picked out a clear spot // I thought a whole lot about the rest of my life // I had no idea then, soon it would nearly end // Up on this mountainside, I would nearly die."
Williams also opened up about the ordeal during an appearance last year on "The Bobby Bones Show," saying he remembered "every bit" of the incident, adding that he did not think he was going to survive.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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