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Country star Ronnie McDowell suffered a stroke mid-performance at the Summer Solstice Music Festival in Pennsylvania earlier this summer.
McDowell slurred his words onstage June 21 in Oley, before his son and tour manager stepped in and paused to show to make sure his dad was OK.
In a new interview with Town & Country, McDowell revealed what he told his son at that moment.
“And I said, ‘No, I think I’m having a stroke,’” he told the outlet. Ronnie was taken to a nearby hospital in Pennsylvania where the stroke was later confirmed.
At the hospital, McDowell was informed that surgery was needed to clear the blockage that caused the stroke. He was told by the doctors onsite that he could travel home for the procedure and emergency surgery was not needed.
“[The doctor] said, ‘I’m gonna let you go home, and let me tell you why. I’ve been doing this 30-something years. I listened to your heart, and you’ve got the strongest heart I have ever heard,’” McDowell recalled the conversation with his doctor.
“[The doctor] said, ‘I’m gonna let you go home, and let me tell you why. I’ve been doing this 30-something years. I listened to your heart, and you’ve got the strongest heart I have ever heard.’”
— Ronnie McDowell
He continued, “He said, ‘That’s what saved you. Because you were 70-, almost 80 percent blocked.’ He said, ‘Your heart was pumping through that really hard, and it scraped the plaque off.’”
McDowell had surgery a few weeks after his onstage stroke. He told the outlet that it was a successful procedure, but did not come without complications.
“They woke me up the first time, and the doctor said, ‘Ronnie, I hate to tell you this, but we gotta put you back to sleep, because a…hematoma formed and we’ve got to wash it out,’” McDowell recalled.
His son, Tyler, told the outlet that the hematoma that formed was due to blood thinners his father was on.
Following the surgery, McDowell had some issues recovering from the anesthesia.
“It was quite unbearable. The swelling and how I felt was just terrible, but I’m improving every day,” McDowell said.
The singer thanked fans for the overwhelming support she’s received since the stroke.
“Most times I go to my mailbox there’s so much mail in there, I can’t hardly get it out. I’m sure the post office is wondering why Ronnie McDowell is getting so much mail all of the sudden. But it just shows you how people care,” he said.
McDowell, 75, has a new appreciation for life after his health scare.
“It makes you realize, every morning when we get up — you, me, every human — that we take for granted that all this stuff is just gonna work perfectly.
“You know, we’ll all so fearfully but wonderfully made. I mean, just, in a second, you can be dead. When the ticker stops ticking, you’re gonna leave here anyway,” he told the outlet.
“It made me realize even more that we are all so fearfully but wonderfully made,” McDowell concluded.
McDowell gained fame in the 1970s after releasing the song “The King Is Gone,” which paid tribute to Elvis Presley. He quickly released another hit, “I Love You, I Love You, I Love You.”
He went on to release a string of hit albums and singles between 1979 and 1986. During this time, he was best known for his songs “Older Women” and “You’re Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation.”
Other hits released by McDowell include “Watchin’ Girls Go By,” “Personally,” “You Made A Wanted Man Of Me,” “All Tied Up” and “In A New York Minute.”
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