For the first time, country music singer-songwriter Eric Church has opened up about a terrifying health scare that landed him in the emergency room.
In a new interview, the "Round Here Buzz" singer revealed that he was admitted to the Duke University Hospital in North Carolina over a year ago for a birth defect that he had no idea he had.
Eric Church's Near-Death Experience
The 41-year-old noticed his very serious health issue in the middle of his arena tour last year. Church said that he felt both his hands tingling during the show, but he initially dismissed it as "nerves." However, when he went back home, things immediately escalated.
"I was watching the College World Series and texting about golf," he recounted. "And this [left] hand was not responding like it should."
When he took a closer look, his entire arm was red and swollen. The first thing he did was hop into Google, searched for "thrombosis of the arm," and found that he had all of the symptoms of the condition.
Unfortunately, his wife, Katherine Blasingame, was in Nashville, so he drove himself alone to the hospital where he was told that he needed an ultrasound in another facility 25 minutes away. Hooked with an IV up in his arm, Church again hopped into his vehicle and drove himself to the hospital where he got the ultrasound and discovered that he had a blood clot in his chest.
He was told that he needed to undergo surgery immediately, so he called Blasingame, who made arrangements to admit him at Duke University Hospital. Church said that his condition did not allow him to travel via a helicopter in case it dislodges the clot. The "Springsteen" singer was, instead, given blood thinners and traveled by ambulance to Duke University Hospital, where he immediately underwent surgery.
"It's called thoracic outlet syndrome," he told the Rolling Stone. "There's a major vein that runs through there, and when I would raise my arm, it would pinch it and damage the vein. The clot was where it tried to heal. But it kept backing up, backing up. And like any clot, when you get enough pressure, it's gonna blow."
The operation was a success. After the clot was taken out, Church again went into surgery, where doctors took out his top rib. He spent the next few months recovering in the hospital.
That, however, did not stop Church from playing in front of fans. By September, he was back on the road performing in sold-out shows across the United States.
In the same interview, the country music star also talked about the tragic Las Vegas shooting last year and Garth Brooks lip-syncing to his own song at the 2017 CMA Awards.
Eric Church 'Desperate Man'
The award-winning singer-songwriter announced earlier this month that his next album, titled Desperate Man, is finished. He released the first single, also titled "Desperate Man," shortly after with a music video (initially only available via Amazon).
Desperate Man will be released in early October.
