Loretta Lynn’s Son Ernest Gets Hopeful Recovery News After Life-Saving Surgery

Early evidence suggested that the surgery Loretta Lynn's son Ernest underwent to address his kidney failure might not have been a success. However, as of Monday (Jan. 29), Ernest started seeing some remarkable health improvements, according to an update from his wife Crystal.

"I have no explanation for it other than GOD," Crystal writes on Facebook. "One day we can't get a successful dialyzation (3 weeks total)...the next day we can. One day we're facing more serious circumstances...The next day we're not. One day we're not certain what the future holds...The next, we have confidence that the future is bright...

"GOD can do what we can not, and HE has done it!!" she goes on to say. Crystal also shared a photo of Ernest recuperating in what appears to be a chair in a medical facility, hooked up to machines but otherwise resting comfortably.

• Ernest Ray Lynn, 69, is one of the six children Loretta Lynn shared with her husband, Oliver "Doolittle" Lynn. He and his wife Crystal live and work on the family's Hurricane Mills, Tenn. ranch, according to their social media.
• Last week, Crystal first shared the news that Ernest was undergoing "a life saving and life sustaining" operation to address his kidney failure. Loretta Lynn's official social media accounts also issued a request for prayers, as did Ernest's daughter, singer-songwriter Tayla Lynn.
• In her post, Crystal explained that Ernest typically prefers to remain private about his health challenges; however, he gave his blessing to keep fans in the loop about this surgery.

Throughout Ernest's medical ordeal, Crystal has requested the support and prayer of fans concerned about her husband's recovery. In her latest update, she underscores the important role prayer played in Ernest's health improvements.

"NONE of this would have been possible without YOUR FAITH, our almighty GOD and YOUR prayers and support!!" she writes. "Thank you ALL for being part of our support system...Thank you ALL for caring enough to take the time to pray for us...Thank you ALL for being part of GOD's army. We are eternally grateful."

She also notes that Ernest "gets to go home to heal" after his hospital stay.

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Loretta Lynn outlived two of the children she shared with her late husband, Oliver "Doolittle" Lynn. Those were their eldest daughter Betty Sue, who died of complications from emphysema in 2013, and her eldest son Jack Benny, who died in 1984  when he drowned while attempting to ford a river on the family's Hurricane Mills, Tenn. property.

Lynn died on Oct. 4, 2022, at her home in Hurricane Mills. She was 90 years old. During her lifetime, she became one of country music's most successful artists, and she was the most-awarded female country performer of all time.