Gary Rossington, The Last Original Lynyrd Skynyrd Member, Nearly Died From A Heart Attack

Gary Rossington, the last remaining original member of Lynyrd Skynyrd, suffered a serious heart attack on October 8, according to his daughter, Mary Elizabeth. She posted the news on the late lead singer Ronnie Van Zant’s Facebook page as a way to give the news directly to Skynyrd fans. The post stated, “We were very close to losing him this time and just pray that they will develop even better techniques soon to deal with heart disease.”

The legendary band’s guitarist has been battling heart problems for at least 12 years as he underwent a quintuple bypass surgery in 2003. “They went in to repair and unclog the two stents they did previously in the year which had a blood clot. [They also] added a third stent to one vein and in two weeks we will need to go in to do a fourth stent in one of his bypassed veins from 12 years ago,” Mary Elizabeth detailed in the Facebook post.

The Southern rock world has sent their support for the guitarist with former Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer Artimus Pyle, saying, “I love you, Gary. Our band loves you. Stay strong and ‘May the force be with you,'” in a reply to the aforementioned Facebook post. FOGHAT also shared a tweet with their support, saying, “Our thoughts are with Gary Rossington and his family for a speedy recovery! Give em hell, Gary!”

(via VH1)