Bret Michaels claims he heard and felt himself suffering a massive brain hemorrhage late last month.
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"[It] sounded like a handgun, like it literally popped," Michaels told People in a cover story interview in the magazine's new issue, The Associated Press reported.
"It made my mind go almost blank. My neck tensed up. I couldn't move my head at all."
The former Rock of Love and current The Celebrity Apprentice participant -- who has diabetes -- suffered the subarachnoid hemorrhage on April 21 while recovering from an emergency appendectomy. After hearing the popping noise and feeling his neck tense up, Michaels said he had girlfriend Kristi Gibson take him to the emergency room.
"I knew I was slurring my words, and I was like 'OK, this isn't a headache. There's something really bad happening,'" he told People.
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In addition, Michaels immediately asked doctors if he has a chance to survive because he didn't want his 9- and 5-year-old daughters to see him "in this condition."
Michaels left the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital in Phoenix, AZ on April 30 and doctors have said they "really expect" him to make a "100% recovery."
He will continue to have his vital signs and neurological status monitored very closely while also receiving physical therapy for the next few weeks.
"I'm a believer it's a combination of will and good faith," Michaels told People about his survival.
"Will -- and good medical attention -- and faith. It just wasn't my time yet. I really believe that. If I had stayed on the couch for another hour, that probably would've done me in. In a weird way, God intervened: The appendicitis forced me to come home for a couple of days."
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Michaels said he plans to make a "positive bucket list" and "continue to rock the world" while also focusing on his family.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio