Amy Grant's traumatic brain injury stripped away her 'superpower', led to life transformation
Two years after suffering a traumatic brain injury from a bike-related accident, Amy Grant is only looking towards the future.
In a new interview with AARP, the Christian singer-songwriter opened about how she has managed to heal from the depression she endured after being stripped of her "superpower" and explained why she's chosen to make major changes in hopes of transforming her life.
"I’ve had to be very patient with myself," said Grant. "I have had a lot of good, hard cries. And I went through depression. But everybody is recovering from something. That’s life. If nothing else, we recover every day from the shock of what it means to age. My memory used to be my superpower. Now I can’t trust my memory. But there are hidden gifts in everything."
AMY GRANT TALKS 'HEALING JOURNEY' AFTER HEAD INJURY FROM BIKE ACCIDENT AT KENNEDY CENTER HONORS
"Our mindsets, the stories we tell ourselves, become our realities," she added. "Find the tool kits that you need to move forward."
In 2022, the "Baby, Bay" singer was knocked unconscious for about 10 minutes after falling off her bike. She was treated at a hospital for cuts and abrasions as well as a concussion.
"Amy is getting stronger every day," Grant’s manager Jennifer Cooke said in the statement at the time. "Just as she did after her heart surgery, we are amazed at how fast she heals. However, although she is doing much better, we have made the difficult decision to postpone her fall tour so she can concentrate on her recovery and rebuild her stamina. She wants to be able to give 100% when she tours and, unfortunately, we do not think that will be the case by the time rehearsals would start for the fall dates."
Grant said the accident led doctors to discover a cyst that had been growing in her throat.
"I had this bike wreck and, unbeknownst to me, I actually had a cyst growing in my throat, and because of the trauma of that bike wreck it went into hypergrowth," she told E! News earlier this year. "I had this five-hour surgery, and they took it out."
AMY GRANT SAYS SHE LEANED ON HER FAITH AFTER HORRIFIC BIKE ACCIDENT: ‘IT HELPED ME NOT BE AFRAID’
Two years earlier, Grant had another health scare when she was diagnosed with PAPVR (partial anomalous pulmonary venous return), which had caused complications to the blood circulation through the chambers near her heart. She underwent open-heart surgery to fix the birth defect.
Speaking to Fox News Digital at the 45th Kennedy Center Honors later that year, Grant opened up about returning to the spotlight and expressed her gratitude for husband Vince Gill.
"I was nervous that first day," Grant said of performing. "I forgot lyrics to songs that I wrote. I'm just on a healing journey. . . . You know, love and kindness is also very healing, and I'm not kidding – I feel filled up from head to toe."
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"[Vince] has just been so patient," she added. "Vince has a kind of way of grounding the space that we're in even without saying a word. I think early on I said, ‘What if I’m different, what if I'm not the same?' and he said, ‘Hey, every day we wake up a little different, and we love each other, and it’s good.'"
For months after her accident, Grant told AARP she couldn't leave the house, look at screens or be on her phone. While it was a trying time, it led her to discover other ways of coping.
"I wait until the stillness finds me," she said of finding emotional recovery outside of her physical recovery. "I have a daily ritual of connecting to myself. I have a cup of coffee and stand with my bare feet on the grass. I welcome myself to the day. Less than a week ago, I was so upset about something, but I went outside in the grass that night . . . and I sat there in silence, but I could see that I was a tiny part of a big picture. And I stayed until I felt peace."
"I’m so glad I’m here! But I have to be more intentional about my health," she added. "I now drink nonalcoholic beer, for example. I discovered swimming in 2021 and joined the YMCA, because I travel a lot, and there is a YMCA in most towns. I’m not back to riding a bike yet, because I still have some balance issues. But I’m working on it."
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Grant, who is currently touring and recording, has also come to terms with accepting help when it's offered.
"Nobody does anything big by themselves," she said. "As we get older, some things fade, understandably, but problem-solving actually increases. To me, the adventure is connecting need and surplus. I love gathering in purposeful community. The best we can give each other is our presence, actually showing up for one another."
"What I have said for decades is that I can’t control anyone else’s choices, but I can control mine," she added. "We have to be intentional with the life that we have. One great thing about being in your 60s is that you no longer feel the pressure to make your mark in life. So I’m looking at other people my age and saying if we want to see change, it has to be our generation that does it. We’re in the perfect place. We’ve done what it is we’re going to do, but we’re not dead yet!"
Original article source: Amy Grant's traumatic brain injury stripped away her 'superpower', led to life transformation
