Randy Travis and Mary Davis’ love started with cheating, was carried at some point by faith, and was cleansed with a miracle that can only be termed divine intervention. Her husband, the man the doctors wanted to leave for dead, went on to make a musical comeback and is still alive.
Randy Travis and Mary Beougher (Davis) have one of the most romantic relationships known in the celebrity space.
However, some may have forgotten about their complicated history, which reportedly began while they were both married.
Singer Randy Travis performs on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno at NBC Studios on June 14, 2011 in Burbank, California. | Source: Getty Images
Mary Beougher had two kids for her then-husband, a dentist who used to treat Travis, and the country singer himself had also been married to a woman named Mary Elizabeth “Lib” Hatcher, with whom he tied the knot in 1991 after they dated for seven years.
They split after she discovered that he was having an affair with Beougher, thanks to footage from a spy camera previously hidden on the talented singer’s tour bus. After the news went public in 2011, he and his first wife finalized their divorce.
RANDY HAD A MASSIVE STROKE
After his divorce from Hatcher, Travis and Beougher decided to be together. They got engaged in 2013; however, months later, the singer was struck with a massive stroke that paralyzed his right side, disrupting his ability to move and speak.
Singer Randy Travis and Mary Beougher at the 2013 CMT Music Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on June 5, 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee. | Source: Getty Images
In a book he authored alongside Ken Abraham, titled “Forever and Ever, Amen: A Memoir of Music, Faith, and Braving the Storms of Life,” Travis revealed that he heard someone say he would not make it while he was in a coma.
On the first page of the book, Randy talked about getting used to the constant buzzing of the machines even while he was in a coma. He warned people never to speak negatively within earshot of someone in a coma because it’s very likely they can hear them.
The doctors that were charged with saving his life gave him little chance of survival since he set foot in the hospital. However, his fiancee kept believing in him, refusing to give up despite how many times she got the dire statements.
Actor and singer Randy Travis and Mary Beougher leave the “Good Morning America” taping at the ABC Times Square Studios on March 21, 2012 in New York City. | Source: Getty Images
They spent three weeks in the hospital before being transferred to a rehab center in Nashville, where his lungs stopped working. He had somehow contracted a staph infection, and his body had become septic.
It took him years of trying, but eventually, Travis, who had almost been left for dead, was able to sing once more.
Randy Travis attends Jesus Calling Presents Conversations with Randy and Mary Travis and Ken Abraham at Music City Center during 2019 CMA Music Festival on June 07, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. | Source: Getty Images
During this time, he was always semiconscious and unable to breathe without assistance from a machine. He spent six weeks like that, drifting in and out of a coma while a tracheostomy tube was jammed through his throat, and his head was covered with what he said looked like a “1920s football helmet.”
At that point, the doctors had lost all hope, and they wanted Beougher to abandon him too by taking him off life support because they thought he could never get better.
Rather than decide on her own, Beougher asked Travis to let her know what he wanted, which made him try as hard as he could to say the words; however, nothing came of it except a single drop of tear that pushed him to muster all his strength to squeeze his wife’s hand, and just a bit was enough.
Beougher stood up to the doctors: letting them know the decision was not theirs to make and urging them to instead focus on saving him. Travis admitted in the book that they had both chosen to put their trust and faith in the God they worshipped, whom they knew still had plans for him.
HE NEVER SAW HIMSELF AS A VICTIM
When they eventually returned home just before thanksgiving in 2013 after four months in the hospital, his brain was working fine. After that, however, he was unable to respond coherently, so he had to learn how to do that again in speech therapy. He wrote:
“We spent three months in speech therapy before I learned to say the letter ‘A.’ Eventually, after about a year and a half, I could say ‘yup,’ ‘nope,’ and ‘bathroom.'”
He continued: “I could also say ‘I love you’ and a few other phrases but not much more. All this was extremely frustrating for me; I felt like I was trapped inside the shell of my body.”
Raleigh Beougher, Randy Travis, Mary Travis and Cavanaugh Beougher at the 53rd annual CMA Awards at the Music City Center on November 13, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee. | Source: Getty Images
He also had to relearn other essential things, including the various devices we have now. It took a long time before Travis regained most of these skills.
But through it all, the singer never considered himself a victim. In his memoir, he referred to recovery as a “redemption that came from above.”
Randy Travis and Mary Davis at the 2021 Medallion Ceremony, celebrating the Induction of the Class of 2020 at Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum on November 21, 2021 in Nashville, Tennessee. | Getty Images
RANDY TRAVIS SANG
As Travis got better and better, he and Beougher saw no reason why they couldn’t get married, so they tied the knot but deliberately forgot to let members of the public know about it until weeks later.
According to ABC News, the pair got married on March 21, 2015, finally consolidating their relationship after so many years.
That year, the singer made an appearance at the ACM Awards, but his presence had gone largely unnoticed by the crowd until it was announced that he was in the building. It happened after fellow singer Lee Brice paid tribute to him by performing his classic song “Forever and Ever, Amen.”
Carrie Underwood, Randy Travis and Brad Paisley perform onstage during the 50th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on November 2, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. | Source: Getty Images
That year, Travis only stood and waved, but in another similar ceremony the following year, he decided to use his singing voice again. It had taken him years of trying, but eventually, Travis was able to sing once more.
This happened at the Nashville ceremony organized to usher him and several others into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
He performed a short rendition of Amazing Grace, eliciting tears and a ton of applause from the crowd, who gave him a standing ovation as soon as he uttered the last note.
The song was Travis’ way of expressing his gratitude for the heartwarming tribute members of the country music community had just dedicated to him.
The ceremony, which holds annually, went down in the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum’s 800-seat CMA Theater. Besides Travis, singer and multi-instrumentalist Charlie Daniels and producer Fred Foster were also honored.
