Country music singer Trace Adkins recently shared details of a 1994 incident in which his ex-wife shot him during a domestic dispute. Adkins recounted the event on the "This Past Weekend with Theo Von" podcast, describing the shooting as "totally uncalled for."
Adkins, 64, was married to Julie Curtis, his second wife, when the shooting occurred. He explained that the argument was about his drinking. Adkins stated he believes Curtis did not intend to shoot him and may not have fully understood the danger of the firearm.
"I don’t think she even had any idea what that gun was gonna do," Adkins said. "I’d never seen her hold a gun, I’d never seen her shoot a gun. I knew she had one, but I’d never seen her use it."
He recalled that Curtis was upset because he refused to leave the house. During the altercation, she shot him under his left arm. The bullet reportedly passed through his heart and both lungs before exiting his right arm.
Adkins described the immediate aftermath, recalling that he got up from the floor, took a few steps, and then collapsed again. He was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where doctors informed him that he survived because the shot was at "point blank velocity," which prevented the bullet from mushrooming.
Adkins underwent emergency open-heart surgery. He described the recovery from the surgery as the most painful part of the ordeal.
He did not press charges against Curtis, and the couple divorced later that year. Adkins expressed that he has forgiven his ex-wife for the incident. "I’ve just always felt like I don’t think she meant to do it," he said. "I just don’t think she thought it was gonna hurt me. She thought I was indestructible."
In a 2022 interview with People, Adkins mentioned that he still sees a heart doctor for regular checkups, decades after the shooting. He noted that while physical pain has never deeply affected him, emotional pain has left more significant scars.
Adkins's first marriage was to Barbara Lewis, with whom he has two daughters. After his divorce from Curtis, he married Rhonda Forlaw in 1997. They had three daughters before divorcing in 2014. Adkins married his fourth wife, actress Victoria Pratt, in 2019.