Country music star Trace Adkins is opening up about one of the most harrowing moments of his life. On Theo Von’s podcast “This Past Weekend,” Adkins recalled the night in 1991 when his second wife, Julie Lauren Curtis, shot him. The bullet went through his heart and both lungs, and by every medical measure, he should not have survived. His reaction at the moment? He simply said, “That was uncalled for.”
Adkins says he doesn’t believe Curtis intended to hurt him. She had never fired a gun before and, in his words, “thought I was indestructible.” The bullet didn’t expand at close range, which is the only reason it didn’t tear him apart. LifeFlight rushed him to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where doctors saved his life. He even needed additional surgery later to repair a hole in his heart.
More than three decades later, Adkins is sharing this story with a sense of humor and perspective that only comes from surviving something unthinkable. It’s a reminder that our toughest moments don’t define us. They can become the foundation of a second chance. What’s the closest call you’ve ever had, and how did it change your perspective on life?
