Randy Travis Cheats Death After Heart Failure, Stroke & Brain Surgery
Country superstar 'living proof miracles do happen.'
Oct. 28 2016, Published 10:02 a.m. ET
Randy Travis has battled back from death's door — and recently showed off his miraculous recovery by getting on stage and singing again!
The 57-year-old country music great, with 16 No. 1 hits to his credit, appeared as a new inductee into Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame on Oct. 16.
After being helped from his wheelchair to the podium, he stunned fans by singing a verse of "Amazing Grace."
Incredibly, just three years ago, friends were tearfully saying goodbye to the dying star who after being hospitalized for congestive heart failure, suffered a stroke and needed risky brain surgery just to survive.
"Randy is living proof miracles do happen," a friend told RadarOnline.com. "He's fought and fought and fought to get back to this point, and it just blows his mind that people still care so much about him and are cheering him on. That keeps him fighting even harder."
Following his stroke, Travis spent months in a physical rehab facility battling to recover.
Since he returned home, he's been undergoing speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy four to five days each week.
"It's been grueling, but Randy is determined to reclaim his life," the friend said. "He's gone from not being able to speak at all to the point now where he can string a few words together."
"And he can stand on his own two feet with a cane or with someone to help him around," added the friend.
At the awards ceremony, Travis sang in a halting, slurred voice — "but just for him to get up on a stage and sing a few lines is a major, major breakthrough," said the source.
Travis' troubles began after he plunged into a taboo affair with now-wife Mary, who was then wed to his dentist . The romance led to his 2010 divorce from Lib Hatcher, his wife and manager.
Then, his life flew "off the rails," and he began the boozing that had plagued him in his youth, said the source.
A series of arrests and erratic concert performances followed, leading up to his heart and stroke crisis.
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A source said Randy believes his woes were ordained: "The Good Lord was trying to tell him something — that he needed to find his way back to living a fruitful life. And that's what he's trying to do."
Noted the pal: "It's a longshot that Randy can regain his motor skills to where he can play guitar or his speech so he could perform a full concert, but at this point, it's hard to bet against him!"
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