Close call! On Tuesday, March 29, Randy Travis accepted country music’s most prestigious honor, a spot in Country Music’s Hall of Fame in Nashville. At his induction, the country superstar’s wife, Mary Davis-Travis, revealed he almost died from a massive stroke in 2013.
After struggling to get through his acceptance speech (Travis’ stroke left the star with a limited vocabulary), the 56-year-old prompted his wife to take the stand on his behalf — a "daunting task of being the voice of this man who so eloquently put words to melody to make beautiful music,” she explained.
It was there that Davis-Travis told the story of how the “Forever and Ever, Amen” crooner almost lost his life three years ago.
“They really said there was no hope; go ahead and pull the plug,” she said. “I went to his bedside and I said, ‘Baby, you’ve got to give me some more fight.’”
“And I knew that he had had a little talk with Jesus, because he squeezed my hand, and a little tear fell down,” she continued, holding back tears. “And I knew that he wasn’t through yet. He’s a wonderful man; he’s a wonderful husband. I’m blessed beyond measure to get to walk beside him.”
As Us Weekly previously reported, the couple tied the knot in a private ceremony in Texas in March 2015, nearly two years after Travis survived the debilitating stroke. The pair had been engaged prior to the singer’s hospitalization in July 2013. Travis was previously wed to Lib Hatcher, whom he divorced in October 2010 after 19 years of marriage.
Months before marrying Travis, his then-fiancée opened up about the Grammy winner’s unyielding optimism throughout his recovery.
“He wakes up with a smile on his face; he goes to bed with a smile on his face. He inspires me daily,” Davis-Travis told ABC affiliate WFAA in November 2014. "The music does come easy. He plays every single chord, and he knows all the words. I'm exactly where I need to be and want to be, and from Randy's standpoint, he's gonna be back. He loves music too much."