Phil Vasser is lucky to be alive. The country music legend suffered a stroke and heart attack in 2023, and now he’s opening up about how he “dropped dead,” saying that he died for 30 minutes before being revived.
Recalling the events leading up to the frightening medical scare, Vassar, 62 – who had been on a Christmas music concert tour with Deana Carter – told Taste of Country that he remembers not feeling prior to losing consciousness, and doesn’t “remember any of it.”
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“I just had genetic heart disease,” Vassar said, attributing his medical crisis to a hereditary condition. “I wasn’t a drinker and a partier, or any of that. I worked out every day. You know, I kept feeling bad so I kept really concentrating on my health and trying to — I never ate anything fried or anything like that. Never did. It just caught up with me, you know, the genes.”
Vassar explained that he was at home when the heart attack occurred, prompting someone to call 911. When first responders arrived to provide medical attention, the singer says he was shocked “11 times and cracked some ribs.” He added, “They did a heck of a job getting me back.”
Not quite out of the woods yet, Vassar revealed that he suffered a stroke three days later while still being treated for his heart attack. “They iced me down and they said I was going, ‘Why was it so cold?’ Cause you’re on ice, you know,” he recalled. “So it was a weird thing, but I dropped dead. I was dead for 30 minutes a couple of times — died. No heartbeat. No heartbeat at all.” As far as what he remembers from it all, Vassar says that he mostly only recalls feeling tired and ill.
Vassar has since recovered from his multiple health scares, and has even headed back out on tour, performing around 100 shows in the past several months. “Thank goodness for medicine,” he offered.
