“To Them, I Was Going to Die”: How a Birth Defect Nearly Cost Eric Church His Life Years Later

Eric Church has always had a sentimental sensitivity, which he has displayed in his lyrics and public character. However, that character trait was not randomly acquired. Rather, Church had to live some life, and also, he had to nearly lose his own to obtain it. Which he almost did in 2017 when his body built up a life-threatening blood clot brought on by an undetected birth defect.

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Church has never been one to air everything about his life to the public. Some might even say he is an admirably private person. However, when he suffered this life-threatening incident, he spoke with Rolling Stone and divulged the full timeline of the instance that nearly took him off this planet.

Eric Church’s Dance With Death—”To Them, I Was Going to Die”

Like many men, Church originally thought nothing of the symptoms the blood clot brought on. As he told the publication, “I just associated it with nerves” and “I didn’t think it was anything.” Though, while Church was “watching the College World Series and texting about golf” he realized his left hand wasn’t functioning properly.

After this realization, he noticed his arm was “noticeably red and enlarged” and he then googled thrombosis of the arm and learned that he had all of the symptoms the ailment includes. Consequently, Church drove himself to a local North Carolina hospital and learned that he had a life-threatening blood clot that he needed to get taken care of that day. Matter of fact, when he asked the doctor, “Can it kill me?” The doctor simply replied, “Today.”

After Eric Church received his diagnosis, medical staff drove him to Duke University’s hospital and took him into surgery immediately. At the time, Church believed he wasn’t going to undergo surgery until the next day. Though, given the time-sensitive nature of the blood clot, he needed the issue resolved right that very instant. It was this moment where Church fully grasped the severity of the health scare. He told Rolling Stone, “That was really when it hit me” because “To them, I was going to die.”

Following the surgery, Eric Church learned that his birth defect was called Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Which, in an elementary explanation, is when the rib gets too close to the collarbone, obstructs the flow of a major artery, and then causes a blood clot. That being so, Church had his top rib removed and luckily recovered.

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