Amy Grant has shared gripping photos taken after she underwent open heart surgery, noting “something supernatural” pulled her through the experience. The singer-songwriter took to Instagram on Sunday to update fans on how she is doing following the June 3 operation for a condition called partial pulmonary venous return, which affects blood flow to the heart.
A slideshow of images showed the 59-year-old musician smiling despite a long, vertical scar running from her neck down to her chest.
“The only way I can explain my experience would be to ask you to imagine a non-runner who was signed up for a marathon,” she captioned the images. “I didn’t want it, but I had to have it anyway and it was a week ago Wednesday.”
Grant said that since the surgery, she has been inundated by messages from family, friends, fans and acquaintances, with many saying that they are praying for her.
“And now, ten days later, I just want to say, from the moment I went to the hospital, if it really were a marathon race, I felt like I got into that runners block and as soon as it was time for the race to start there was this massive West Texas wind at my back.. just pushing me through,” she wrote. “Even stuff I was really scared about felt like nothing more than just a deep breath and something supernatural pushed me through it.”
“My recovery has honestly felt miraculous,” she continued. “And so I want to say thank you to each person who said a prayer for me. Prayer changes everything. Let’s keep those prayers going for our country and lets turn all the brokenness into love and seeing each other. I love you. Amy.”
Grant revealed she had a heart condition in February, and that she had been asymptomatic despite having the condition since birth. She added that she would be spending the summer swapping concerts and camping trips for taking care of her heart.
A post on her Facebook account on June 4 then asked for prayers as Grant went under the knife.