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Merle Haggard Says That He Was Nearly Dead

12/21/2015
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(Radio.com) Merle Haggard checks in from the hospital, after being admitted earlier this month. "A couple weeks ago I came in the hospital here, and I guess I was nearly dead," he said in a recent radio interview.

"They couldn't tell whether the [lung] cancer had returned or whether I just had pneumonia," he continued. "They had to wait until they got the pneumonia under control before we could tell. So it's been kind of a tough couple of weeks, but I've got so many people to thank."

And Haggard did, in fact, take the opportunity to genuinely thank a long list of the people, most notably Gene Autry's widow Jackie, who encouraged him to go to the hospital. "Without her I might not be alive," he admitted.

He also thanked fans for praying for him and God for letting him have another Christmas. Listen to the interview here.

Radio.com is an official news provider for antiMusic.com.
Copyright Radio.com/CBS Local - Excerpted here with permission.

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