Randy Travis says he’s “damaged” after a 2013 stroke that almost became fatal for the Country Music Hall of Fame inductee. He reportedly "flatlined" three times.
Travis had a near-death experience a little over three years ago when he was almost taken off of life-support after a severe stroke, according to USA Today.
Travis had "flatlined" and was suffering from an infection that doctors believed would put him in an early grave, The Tennessean noted. In fact, doctors told Travis’ wife that if he did survive, he could be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.
More than three years later, Travis was standing there during his induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame and singing “Amazing Grace.”
Despite that miraculous image, Travis recently told The Tennessean in an interview that his health was continuing to decline, as his “speech is halting,” and he does most of his moving around in a wheelchair when at his home in Nashville.
When asked if he was happy, he replied, “Well…no,” adding after a long pause that he was “damaged.”
Travis’ wife Mary, though, has remained hopeful throughout, and even predicted her husband will be singing on Wednesday night during a Grammy week tribute attended by a host of great artists, including Garth Brooks, Chris Young and Jamey Johnson.
“There is a perfectionist in him that knows he’s not singing exactly like he used to that keeps him from enjoying it like I wish he would,” Mary said, per The Tennessean. “I know the world when they hear him, they can tell it’s Randy Travis, and the more he does it, the better it’s going to get.”
The 57-year-old singer has won seven Grammy’s, and is best known for his multi-platinum-selling debut record from 1986, “Storms of Life,” the Xpose noted.
Travis has been praised as one of the artists who put country music on the map.
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