Jimmy Houston deeply loves his wife, Christine, and like his famous hair, his dedication to her has grown famously since she suffered a debilitating stroke five years ago.
The two-time B.A.S.S. Angler of the Year and longtime TV host of Jimmy Houston Outdoors has been quite public about Chris’ recovery, and he’s now sharing details with Bassmaster.com for May’s Stroke Awareness Month. (See Life-threatening stroke renewed B.A.S.S. CEO’s appreciation of life.)
“We were very, very, very blessed that she made it through,” Jimmy said. “It damaged her brain quite a bit. She can’t walk or use her right arm, but other than that, she’s doing fine. We’re really blessed that she’s still here with us.”
Their lives changed dramatically. Chris, the first woman inducted into the Bass Fishing Hall of Fame, requires a wheelchair and home care, although they still travel and lead full lives. For Jimmy, 82, the stroke required him to switch roles to primary caregiver for Chris, 79.
The iconic angler known for kissing fish has shown his decades-long love, and almost losing his wife of 62 years has deepened his connection to Chris and God.
The long road ahead
Early on April 5, 2021, Jimmy departed their Twin Eagle Ranch in Oklahoma for a work trip to Birmingham, Ala. It wasn’t long after his third or fourth phone chat with Chris that their son, Jamie, called with the tragic news that she suffered a stroke.
“Being an EMT, he recognized it was a stroke right off, got a helicopter out there right to the ranch and got her to Oklahoma City quickly,” Jimmy said. “Jamie actually saved her life and might have saved further damage. If he hadn’t been there, obviously she would not have made it.”
An hour from his destination, Jimmy pulled a U-turn in the median and drove back 646 miles, all the while crying out to God to save her.
“I drove 23 hours straight,” he said. “It was a really difficult deal. I basically spent 23 hours praying. I just was asking to keep her alive.”
Reassured when he made it to her side around 5 a.m., Jimmy received discouraging news soon after. It was fortunate daughter Sherri was with him as he got fighting mad. A doctor said Chris probably would not leave that hospital alive, and if she did, she would be in a nursing home and not go back to the ranch.
“It really upset me,” Jimmy said. “My daughter said she thought I was going to hit him. She said I’d doubled up my fist. I don’t remember doing that, but I remember her grabbing my arm.
“I told him, ‘Well, it’s not your call, dude. I don’t see God written on your name tag.’”
Jimmy, who was saved at 12 years old, turned fully to God. Praying and intense rehabilitation efforts were the immediate future. Chris had suffered a massive brain bleed, destroying millions of brain cells. Besides her right arm and legs, her speech and memory were affected, and recovery to get her back to the ranch would take time.
Just days into their ordeal, Jimmy realized that fans would be missing Chris’ Wednesday videos of her hand-feeding deer on their ranch. He climbed into his truck in the hospital parking lot to relate that on a social media video. Houston, known to spin yarns as well and as long as anybody, said that was hard.
“I don’t have any trouble doing videos, but that one was really difficult,” said Jimmy, whose tearful call for prayers were answered. “The response was incredibly overwhelming. We had literally hundreds of thousands of people praying.”
The fishing brotherhood engaged, with gifts and messages of hope. Bass Pro Shop sent a huge basket while many others sent gift certificates. Pizzas were delivered to the staff taking care of Chris. Country music star Toby Keith, a stroke survivor, called to offer Chris encouragement. Moments later, Bass Pro Shops owner Johnny Morris called. Jimmy said their back-to-back calls made her smile.
“The calls and letters from people in the fishing industry was amazing. (The video) lit a firecracker,” Jimmy said. “It seemed like everybody knew about it instantly. All the prayers really, really, really made a difference.”
Fall in love again
Memory loss might be the worst part of Chris’ stroke, Jimmy said. Anglers regale in their accomplishments, and Chris had plenty. She dominated the Bass’n Gal circuit with “too many tournament wins to count” and seven Angler of the Year titles, but her memories of them are sporadic.
“It seems to me one of the saddest things is, if you tournament fish, which I did for 54 years, you remember just about every little thing about every tournament,” Jimmy said. “Those memories are worth a lot to you.
“She doesn’t remember a lot about very many of the tournaments she won. She can remember some, but we’ll be talking about a lake or driving somewhere and go by a lake. ‘You remember when you won a tournament on this lake?’ And so many of the times, she just says, ‘No.’”
But the absolute most exasperating thing was that when Chris first returned to the ranch, she had forgotten much of their history together. Telling that aspect teared Jimmy up, but he was resolute in his love.
When Jimmy first courted Christine in high school, he said she resisted his charms for some time. The stroke required him to court her all over again, which he gladly did.
“She hardly knew who I was,” Jimmy said. “I took that as a challenge to by golly just make her fall in love with me again. If God ordained Chris to be my wife, He could help me make her fall in love with me again.
“And by golly she did. A lot of her brain was destroyed, but that part that L-O-V-E is in is there. She loves me.”
Locks of love growing
Jimmy’s hair has grown unencumbered since Chris’ stroke. She had long been his barber, and he’s vowed to let it grow until she can regain use of her right hand.
He does possess the most famous blond locks in bass fishing. President Trump even commented on it when they met at the White House for a Made in America day.
“I like your hair,” Jimmy told Trump as he admired the Ranger Boat.
“Well, I like yours, too,” Trump responded.
Although a hotel worker complimented Jimmy just the other day on his lengthy hair, Chris is not a fan and wants him to get it cut. Letting it grow is his not-so-subtle incentive for her to recover.
“She’s cut my hair since we got married at 19 years old,” he said. “I tell her, ‘Well, I’m not going to cut it until you can use your right arm and cut it.’ Here we are five years later and she still hasn’t cut it. She hates it. It’s pretty long.”
The Houstons are still on the go. They attend a variety of University of Oklahoma sporting events, travel to concerts and destinations like Mexico, Broadway shows and Major League Baseball games of their favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“The amazing thing is, it’s been five years, and we’ve done our best to live as normal a life as possible,” Jimmy said. “The really bad thing is you can’t walk or use your right hand. It does take a lot of time and effort to take care of her, but I consider that a blessing and not a burden.
“I don’t mind it at all, and we’re very fortunate that Sherri can take care of her when I’m out on the road working.”
Jimmy has decreased his schedule to 26 television shows a year. His social media presence has shrunk and personal appearances have been cut in half to about 60 a year.
B-E F-A-S-T
That’s the acronym the American Stroke Association provides for stroke symptoms. The ASA reports only about 36% of Americans know the signs and that immediate action is required.
Balance – Loss of balance or coordination.
Eyes – Change in vision in one or both eyes.
Face – Drooping facial features on one side.
Arms – Weakness in limbs.
Speech – Slurring of words, difficulty speaking or understanding others
Time – Call 911, do not wait for symptoms to clear.
The ASA reports that it’s critical to receive care as quickly as possible for the best chance of survival and recovery. No blood flowing to the brain means the victim can lose as many as 2 million brain cells per minute.
As B.A.S.S. CEO Chase Anderson espoused in the previously linked story, stroke is “preventable, treatable and reversible.”
Ranch a slice of heaven
Although Chris is wheelchair-bound, Jimmy works to make her life as pleasant as possible.
“She’s got to a lot of things. We’ve not let it really handicapped her life,” he said. “She sleeps a lot. She can’t talk plainly all the time, and she can’t use her right arm.
“She’s got an electric chair that she drives around the house and drives out the yard. She’s still able to feed the deer by hand. She really loves that ranch. She’s always loved that ranch. She loves the animals and she loves to sit and look at the lake. Even if she was perfectly healthy, she would still probably enjoy sitting looking at that lake.”
Jimmy said that’s also one of his joys, along with spending time with Chris. It’s a love story going on seven decades.
“She’s at the ranch with me all the time except when I’m out running around working, and then she stays at our daughter’s house,” he said. “We’ve still got good things going, been married 62 years to the same woman.
“Of all the things that I’ve done in my life, fishing business, whatever, honestly to me, I kind of consider that my greatest accomplishment – getting her to fall back in love with me again.”
Jimmy wants to delay the death do us part as long as possible – heaven will just have to wait.
“We kind of live in heaven already,” he said. “I’m not sure it’ll be a whole lot of an upgrade when I get there.”