Colt Ford revealed he ‘died twice’ last month when he suffered a heart attack.
The country rap musician, 54, recalled not remembering his performance at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row venue in Gilbert, Arizona after suffering a heart attack while coming off stage.
He said he “died twice” when one of the hosts arrived Big D & BubbaHis radio program asked whether he was ‘clinically dead’.
He ended up in an intensive care unit at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Arizona, according to a news release the day after the April 4 incident.
And during his recovery, he admitted he’s still “not 100 percent out of the woods.”
Colt Ford revealed he ‘died twice’ last month when he suffered a heart attack
The country-rap musician, 54, recalled having no memory of his performance at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row venue in Gilbert, Arizona, after suffering a heart attack while stepping off stage.
“I couldn’t even remember coming here to do a show in Phoenix, and apparently we played an amazing, sold-out show and it was incredible,” he said during the phone interview.
“I walked back to the bus, texted my fiancée ‘Hi honey’ and dropped dead.”
He explained that because his bandmates decided to check on him and find him, they saved his life.
‘They say, “It’s really hot there.” I’m getting to be a bit of an old man now and they came out and checked on me and then all of a sudden they said, “Oh God.” Then all hell broke loose.’
Ford explained that the band and Bentley transported him to a hospital, where medical professionals determined he required Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO).
According to the Mayo ClinicECMO is when blood is pumped outside the body and oxygenated to help vital organs such as the heart rest as they recover from serious illness and injury.
However, Ford explained that the first hospital did not have the facilities to perform the procedure, so they had to transfer him to “another hospital” as quickly as possible.
“Bentley’s trauma team got me [to a second hospital],” he continued. ‘[I] died on the way [again] and they brought me back and saved my life.”
He said he “died twice” when one of the hosts of Big D & Bubba’s radio show asked if he had been “clinically dead.” He also admitted that he’s still “not 100 percent out of the woods.”
He said he had just stepped off stage and was texting his now wife Megan Ford when he collapsed on his tour bus
He was taken to the intensive care unit at Banner Desert Medical Center before being transferred to the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, according to his spokesperson at the time.
In the days following his heart attack, he was reported to be “stable” but still in “critical condition.”
And in videos of his performance, he seemingly showed no signs of feeling ill while performing on stage.
Ford has a history of health problems, including eye cancer and the autoimmune disease Myasthenia Gravis.
Three years ago, he revealed he had undergone surgery for eye cancer, telling People: “The doctor told me it was a week to 10 days before I had to undergo full chemotherapy.”
He first went to the doctor after a friend noticed a spot on his eye.
He said, “I went to a doctor in Georgia who specialized in cataracts and all that stuff, and I remember them saying, ‘This isn’t good’ and ‘You need to get this out,'” Ford recalled, 51. “She wanted me to see a cornea specialist, Dr. Uyen Tran, in Nashville, and that’s when I started getting really nervous.”
After the surgery, Ford resumed his music career and was able to treat the cancer with chemotherapy drops.
Ford has a history of health problems, including eye cancer and the autoimmune disease Myasthenia Gravis. Last year he opened up about his health struggles and how it encouraged him to take care of himself
Last year he opened up about his health struggles and how it encouraged him to take care of himself.
He told Taste of Country: ‘I’ve gotten into much better shape and I just feel great. My life is in a great place. I’m getting married in October. I have found my person. And I’m as happy and excited as I’ve been about music, which is hard to believe. I feel like I’m not even making my best music.
‘Last year I was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease Myasthenia Gravis. it was heavy. This past year was honestly very difficult for me. It is a disease and there is no cure for it.’
He said the condition “affects the muscles in your face, your eyes and your throat. It didn’t really affect my throat, but it did affect my eye. I had no control over my right eye. It really clouds your vision. “I could see perfectly with both eyes, but then when I looked together, I saw the three of you and you were melting together like a lava lamp,” he explained.
‘There’s a terrible fatigue factor involved. They say there is no cure, but this doctor prescribed me supplements that really help me. I’m in a much better place than I was before.’