'I Can Hear Him Better Than Ever Before': Country Singer Ricky Skaggs Shares Spiritual Journey After Quadruple Bypass

Country music artist Ricky Skaggs recently opened up about having quadruple heart bypass surgery this year and how the experience has spiritually restored his heart to the Lord.  

During an exclusive interview with People Magazine, Skaggs revealed that early last year he found himself getting winded easily, feeling a tightness in his chest, and having shortness of breath. 

Ricky Skaggs knew something was wrong. For more than six months, the country music and bluegrass legend found himself getting winded easily. - @people https://t.co/LYGfarDtFA

— Ricky Skaggs (@RickySkaggs) December 31, 2020

He was advised by his doctors that open heart surgery was necessary for him to continue to live.

Skaggs confessed that he had been pushing the boundaries of God's grace and that he was anxious, but knew he had to address the problem.

"God gives us grace, but we all have a tendency to kick in the boundaries of that grace," he explained. "Sometimes, we are like a bull running through the fence of grace. But then, there comes a time when He has to come after us. I knew that I couldn't stand in the shadows of my heart situation anymore. I had been fearful of a heart attack or getting a stent put in all of this time, but now, I was in a corner. I had to address it."

"He had given me so many grace situations, but He was serious that I needed to take care of this now," Skaggs added.

The 66-year-old underwent the procedure on June 15, then met with his heart surgeon Dr. Sreekumar "Kumar" Subramanian who shared a touching story about the operation.
  
"He told me that when he was finished with the bypasses, he literally was holding my heart in his hand, and my heart literally leapt in his hands when the blood started flowing through it again," Skaggs recalled. "I just started bawling. It was the most incredible thing I have ever heard in my life."

"Don't put off tomorrow what you can do today," Skaggs added. "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." 

Skaggs, who spent four days in the hospital, says he feels 150 percent better. He explained how fortunate he feels for the circumstances surrounding his heart condition, which could have been completely different.

"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," he told the magazine. "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."

The 15-time Grammy Award-winner known for hit songs like "Country Boy," "Highway 40 Blues" and "Cajun Moon" is now able to walk without getting winded and is working to re-strengthen his heart muscle. 

In September - just days before his grandson Lyric was born - Skaggs returned to Nashville and played at the historic Grand Ole Opry. 

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