The Bluegrass musician becomes more spiritual following his recent quadruple heart bypass surgery, claiming he now has a real heart that's been cleaned out.
- Jan 2, 2021
AceShowbiz - Bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs is feeling stronger than ever before after undergoing quadruple heart bypass surgery over the summer (20).
The "Cajun Moon" musician had been struggling with shortness of breath and a tightness in his chest for months before his twice-annual check-up in early June, when doctors recommended he undergo an angiogram to better diagnose the cause of his health struggles.
Skaggs thought about putting off the diagnostic test as he and his wife Sharon White had been preparing to travel from Nashville, Tennessee to North Carolina to await the birth of their grandchild, but he decided against the delay after receiving the word of God.
"Scripture tells us God always knows the thoughts of man," the 66 year old told People.com. "That was proven to me at that moment, because while I did not speak it from my mouth, I thought about putting the angiogram off for a week."
"When I thought that thought, it was like I saw the Lord with a jeweller's eye glass on. He was peering at me but never said a word. But just by His look, I knew He was saying, 'Absolutely no.' It put the fear of God in me. He had given me so many grace situations, but He was serious that I needed to take care of this now."
And he's thankful he did because he was booked in for major surgery just days later.
"I have thanked the Lord hundreds of times that I wasn't out in the middle of Texas on a tour bus, miles away from a hospital," Skaggs shared.
"It was a major blessing I didn't have a heart attack. Nothing was hurt, and nothing was destroyed or irreparable. It was just by the mercy and grace of God that all of this happened in this way."
Skaggs, who returned to the stage at the Grand Ole Opry in September, days before welcoming his grandson Lyric, has since made a complete recovery, and he urges fans with niggling health concerns not to procrastinate, because it could be the difference between life or death.
"Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today," Skaggs said. "That surgery gave me a brand-new heart. Not only a real heart, but a spiritual heart that has now been cleaned out, so I can hear Him better than ever before."
