Courtesy Newark Advocate
By AJeffries
Judith Garloch, 75, has bought every album Scotty McCreery has ever made.
She and her husband, Kenneth, have tickets to his upcoming show on Thursday at the Midland Theatre.
After watching the country singer on TV, Judith is excited to see him in person. She’s hoping she’ll be able to meet him — even just for a few seconds — and say thank you.
She credits McCreery with saving her life.
A lifelong music lover, Judith has a diverse collection of hundreds of CDs. But she wasn’t much of a country music fan until May 2011.
McCreery was performing on “American Idol” and Kenneth, who is a country music lover, became interested in the show.
“Usually I watch TV downstairs and he watches westerns and sports upstairs,” Judith said. “He started liking Scotty and he’d come down and watch (Idol) with me.”
The couple had just started watching “American Idol” one night when Kenneth felt Judith’s head hit his shoulder.
His wife was in full cardiac arrest and wasn’t breathing. He quickly called 911 and started CPR. Newark firefighters arrived soon after and rushed her to the hospital.
She was stabilized and had a pacemaker put in the next day.
Although she’s grateful for her husband and the firefighters who saved her, Judith believes that McCreery also played a role.
“If (my husband) hadn’t been with me, watching Scotty McCreery, he wouldn’t have found me until hours later,” she said.
After she recovered, Judith tracked down McCreery’s church in North Carolina and spoke to the secretary.
“I said, ‘You tell his mom and dad he saved my life,’” she said.
After winning American Idol that spring, McCreery’s success continued. He’s released three albums, toured the country, performed the national anthem at the World Series and sang for the president.
Although his music has won numerous awards, Judith and her family have never forgotten his presence on “American Idol.”
“He seems like such a nice boy,” said Judith’s daughter, Betsey Hampton. “He was always talking about his family and his church.”
Judith and Kenneth said they were thrilled when Hampton surprised them with tickets to McCreery’s show.
As a longtime fan of the Newark High School Wildcats, Judith bought McCreery a NHS basketball shirt and is hoping to present it to him at the concert.
Even if that doesn’t work out, they’ll just be happy to see him perform, Hampton said.
“I’m grateful he is coming to our town and they actually get to see him,” she said.