randy travis surprises cancer patient in touching hospital visit
2 minute read
we apologize, but this video has failed to load.
try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
see more toronto sun on google — save as a preferred source
randy travis showed his love and support for a “longtime and devoted” fan receiving cancer treatment in chicago.
the country music legend made a surprise visit to the city of hope cancer center chicago, where patient bunnia has been battling cancer.
“throughout multiple cancer diagnoses and years of treatment, bunnia has faced every chapter with remarkable strength and resilience,” the treatment centre shared in a july 31 instagram post.
“on hard days and good days alike, the music of country legend randy travis has kept her spirit lifted and her heart full.”
their emotional meeting
in the instagram video, hospital staff show bunnia a poster of the “forever and ever, amen” crooner, which already gets the woman to tear up.
“we made a few calls, and we got something for you done,” the man tells bunnia before randy and wife mary travis enter the room.
bunnia becomes emotional, covering her face as she meets her idol.
“thank you so much,” bunnia tells travis, 67, in the video. “i have been a fan of yours for years.”
longtime randy travis fan meets her idol. (city of hope chicago/instagram)
city of hope chicago
/
instagram
city of hope said in its post that bunnia had “always dreamed of meeting randy in person,” noting it was “the love and determination of her family and friends” that made it happen.
“their time together was filled with warmth, connection and the kind of joy that words cannot fully capture,” the cancer centre added.
“we are deeply grateful to randy and his wife mary for helping create such a meaningful moment for a cherished member of our city of hope community.”
what happened to randy?
in 2013, travis suffered a stroke around the same time he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia, leaving him largely unable to speak or sing.
the stroke impacted the movement on the right side of his body and left him on life support, with doctors giving him a “one to two per cent chance” of survival, mary recounted to the tennessean in 2017.
advertisement
he had life-saving surgery, which was a success, but he spent six more months in hospitals, undergoing three tracheotomies and two brain surgeries.
travis was later diagnosed with aphasia, a conditional that significantly impacts a person’s speech.
and while his ability to walk and speak has greatly improved since 2013, travis still uses a walker or a wheelchair to get around.
randy travis, mary travis and james dupré visit the grand ole opry on march 05, 2025 in nashville, tennessee. (jason kempin/getty images)
jason kempin
/
getty images
using ai to make music
travis still makes music and communicates with the help of artificial intelligence, embarking on his more life tour, which kicked off last year and was extended to this fall. on tour, country singer james dupree performs the vocals, while the music icon makes special appearances with mary’s assistance.
mary believes her husband will continue to use ai and make even more music.
“i think there’ll be more songs. i think that randy’s interested in doing more songs,” she told fox news last year.
“you know, the first one was ‘where that came from,’ the second one being ‘horses in heaven’ and there is another one that will probably be coming up pretty soon,” she detailed.
“we have folders of music that randy has written,” mary added. “and perhaps one of those will see the light of day.”
recommended video
share story
