Three years after suffering a stroke that nearly cost him his life, country star Randy Travis opened up to Nashville newspaper The Tennessean about his heath struggles since then, which have included two brain surgeries, three bouts of pneumonia, seven intubations, three tracheotomies and some staph infections.
Yet Travis and wife Mary say they remain hopeful, although when asked if he was happy, Travis said, “Well… no. Damaged.”
Mary Travis recalls seeing her husband in a coma, with doctors recommending life-saving surgery, but only would only rate his chances of survival at one to two per cent.
“At this point, the one to two per cent chance is 100 per cent chance over zero,” she says. “I prayed hard, ‘God, please let me have him back, any way, shape or form.’”
She recalls talking to Travis while he lay in a coma, taking his hand and asking: “Do you want to keep fighting, baby?” She says he squeezed her hand as a tear rolled down his cheek.
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“I knew then he wasn’t ready to quit fighting,” she says. “I went back and told the doctors, ‘It’s not our choice to decide that. … And I suggest that everybody get on board and do everything they can do to save him.’ ”
According to The Tennessean, Travis’s speech today is “halting” and uses a wheelchair when necessary, but he’s come a long way after spending four hours a day in rehab for two-and-a-half years. As a result, he can now walk, shower without assistance and get himself dressed.
“I think our goal for five years is to remain hopeful and keep our heads up high and not throw in the towel and be happy with wherever God has us,” says Mary Travis. “If it’s back up on that stage singing, hallelujah.”
