Before he reached the pique of his fame, Hank Williams Jr.’s life was almost cut short after a tragic accident that left him hospitalized and fighting for his life in 1975. Now, the artist reflects on the incident that almost changed his life many years ago.
Williams Jr. wrote on his Instagram, alongside a picture that shows his horrific fall, “48 years ago today, 530 feet and 17 operations later, this picture says it all. I am a very blessed and thankful man.” Williams Jr. was only 26 when he slipped and fell off Montana’s Ajax Mountain in a climbing accident, sustaining severe injuries, including multiple skull and facial fractures.
The fall occurred before he could promote what would be a highly successful album in “Hank Williams Jr. and Friends.” In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2015, Williams Jr. remembered waking up in the hospital surrounded by two special people.
He said, “Many people don’t realize that June Carter Cash was my godmother. She and my mother were very tight. When I fell, there were only two people I saw when I woke up in the hospital bed, and that was Johnny [Cash] and June. June put a cross on me and told me it was all going to be OK. I never knew if I would sing again or not, talk again or not, let alone think about what I was going to look like. It was a scary time, but having people like Waylon [Jennings], Johnny and June around really helped me.”
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The son of the late Hank Williams Sr., Williams Jr. has seen great success throughout his life but also lived through great sadness. In 2022, his wife, Mary Jane Thomas, died at 58 after suffering from a “collapsed lung that was punctured during elective surgery,” according to medical reports.
In 2020, his daughter Katherine, the only one of his five children that did not follow in his footsteps as a musician, died in a car accident. Then in 2013, his other daughters, Hilary and Holly, were also gravely injured in a car crash, with Hilary being pronounced dead twice before regaining a pulse.
Although Hank Williams Jr. has endured much loss in his life, it’s great to see that he can look on the bright side and be grateful for his blessings.
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