Country icon Phil Vassar recalls the harrowing details of his two “deaths,” during which his heart stopped beating for 30 minutes before he was revived.
The 62-year-old Six-Pack Summer hitmaker suffered a heart attack and stroke in early 2023.
Phil’s health problems caused him to “die” twice, with him describing having “no heartbeat at all” during a conversation with Taste of the country.
He explained that after his heart attack and stroke he could not remember anything.
He did know, however, that his heartbeat had stopped abruptly 30 minutes earlier. The doctors thought they had lost him, he added.
Country icon Phil Vassar recalls the harrowing details of his two ‘deaths’ where his heart stopped for 30 minutes before he was revived
He told the outlet: ‘I dropped dead. I was dead for 30 minutes a couple of times.
‘No heartbeat. No heartbeat at all.’
The country singer announced that he suffered a heart attack at home in early 2023.
He said he felt “tired” in the days leading up to his heart attack, but explained that his “genes had caught up with him.”
Just three days later, Phil suffered a stroke, after which his heart stopped beating again.
He remembered the moment when the doctors tried to revive him, and he noticed that he was even turning blue as he watched life pass him by.
“So she kept doing CPR until the team arrived and brought me back,” Phil said.
“They had to shock me 11 times and broke some ribs. They broke my ribs. But I don’t remember any of that. But they did a great job getting me back, you know?”
The 62-year-old Six-Pack Summer hitmaker (spotted in 2017) suffered a heart attack and stroke in early 2023
Phil’s health issues (shown in 2013) left him “dead for 30 minutes a couple of times,” as he described when speaking to Taste of Country, saying he “had no heartbeat at all.”
Luckily, the emergency services were able to save the star and he said he was now doing better than ever (seen in 2024)
Fortunately, the emergency services were able to save the star and he reported that he was now doing better than ever.
“I’m back on tour. And I’m back, you know, doing what I always do,” he said.
“Luckily, there are medicines. A few years ago, we probably wouldn’t have been alive, but now they can help you and cure you.”
“I mean, you think you’re doing everything right and then it all goes wrong, right? It’s just weird that way.”
Phil rose to popularity in the 1990s when he released his debut album.
Since then he has released nine more albums and has even co-written songs for a host of A-listers, including Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, Collin Raye and Alan Jackson.