Hilary Williams’ ‘My Lucky Scars’ Album Inspired by Near-Fatal Accident

Hilary Williams, daughter of Hank Williams, Jr., and grand-daughter of the legendary Hank Williams, is opening up about her devastating accident in 2006, which almost ended the lives of her and her sister, Holly. Her injuries, which took months and months of recovery, became the impetus for her debut album, My Lucky Scars.

“Holly, my younger sister, and I were driving from Nashville to our maternal grandfather’s funeral in Louisiana and I looked down for a second to change my iPod,” Williams recalls to People. “There were deep ruts on Highway 61 in Mississippi; I hit one and it shifted my truck into the gravel. I lost control [and] overcompensated.”

The truck turned 360 degrees and flipped four times. Miraculously, both sisters escaped from the vehicle, but they were severely injured.

“They said I shouldn’t have lived over 20 minutes because I lost six pints of blood,” Williams says. “Before I even got on the helicopter, when I was on the stretcher, my blood pressure was 55 over nothing and that is when I went into cardiac arrest for the first time. I felt like I was drowning in a pool and couldn’t breathe.”

The 39-year-old has had more than 30 surgeries since the accident, and had to relearn how to do everything, including walk. Her body still bears physical reminders of her injuries, but Williams isn’t afraid to let them show. Her willingness to be transparent with all that she has endured became the impetus for her freshman record.

“[My Lucky Scars] means the scars on my body are God’s saving grace and I am very lucky and grateful to be alive,” Williams maintains. “They are a reminder every day to serve my purpose while I am here.”

“I just want to give people hope that you can get through anything you put your mind to,” she adds. “The scariest and worst times don’t mean it’s the end — there is a reason why these things have happened or are happening. I also want people to know [that] death isn’t scary.”

Music runs in the family, with Holly already releasing several albums, but Williams insists she is releasing My Lucky Scars only because of her love of music.

“Both my parents have always been very supportive of me and my dream of putting out music,” Williams notes of her heritage. “They have encouraged me every single day, which I can’t thank them enough for. My dad never forced anything on my siblings or me and has always wanted us to find our own voice, which I think is pretty spectacular. But I do think he was pretty happy that I inherited his musical talent.”

Purchase My Lucky Scars at www.HilaryWilliams.me.

Photo Credit: Instagram/hilwill