Tracy Morgan Recalls His Trip to Heaven: 6 Things We Learned From His Oprah Interview

The actor revisits the conversation he had with his dead father

By Samantha Schnurr Apr 04, 2016 4:21 PMTags
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It's been nearly two years since comedian Tracy Morgan was hospitalized in a deadly car crash—an event that seemed to mark the end of his career and possibly the end of his life. 

To the country's relief, the former SNL star not only survived the crash, but returned to the stage of the iconic show the following October to host after a long and "frustrating" road to recovery. 

Today, he appears to have made a full physical recovery after months with a face of broken bones, not knowing his own name or being able to stand up. Though the true transformation seems to lie in the actor's spirit. Following the near-death experience, Morgan sat down with Oprah Winfrey during an interview on Super Soul Sunday to discuss his uplifting new outlook on ordinary life and how God played a part in that revelation. 

1. He believes he went to heaven. 

The comedian told Oprah he believes he visited heaven while he was in a week-long coma. 

"I was talking to my dad," he told Winfrey of his late father, Jimmy Morgan, Sr., who died in 1987. "I just remember him saying, 'I'm not ready for you, son'....He was my best friend in life."

2. He's a changed man. 

The near-death experience has made Morgan look at his relationships in an entirely new light. 

"Something's different, the way I am with people, something's just different," he admitted. "I find myself saying 'I love you' 200 times a day to strangers. I don't care. I don't have to know you to love you. I love you. That's how we're supposed to be as human beings. We're supposed to take care of each other. What we see sometimes down here on Earth, there there ain't no room for that up in heaven."

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3. He lives for the ordinary now.

When the media mogul asked him what he's grateful for now, he simply replied,"Life." While he formerly contemplated suicide immediately following the crash, Morgan now relishes in the simple moments of his days. 

"Just life every day," he said frankly. "Taking my daughter to dance class. Being with my lady, my wife who loves me. Just chilling."

4. He doesn't hold a grudge. 

While Wal-Mart truck driver Kevin Roper has pleaded not guilty to aggravated manslaughter and other charges involving his 2014 crash with Morgan, which also left fellow comedian James McNair dead and four others injured, the actor holds no ill feelings. 

"I'm not mad at nobody," he told Oprah. "I'm leaving stuff in God's hands."

5. His wife was faced with all of Morgan's medical decisions. 

Two months before the accident, Morgan said he made his will and selected his wife Megan Wollover to be his health proxy. 

"She told the doctors no a few times. 'No, you're not putting no hole in my husband's neck, he's an entertainer," he said. "The next day, I start breathing on my own."

6. He did not know how much he was loved. 

With decades as a SNL cast member and actor on the hit series, 30 Rock, Morgan was a household name for nearly 20 years. However, the 47-year-old did not expect the outpouring of love and concern he received from people all across the country.  

"I just felt that people loved the comedy, but now I feel the goodwill and the love, like people generally happy for me that I survived," he said. "I feel like I tapped into humanity and love...it made me have this new belief in people again.