Friends of country music legend Randy Travis fear he will never play the guitar again as he fights to recover from a stroke he suffered last summer (Jul13).

The 54-year-old singer has been concentrating on restoring functions such as walking and talking since he was admitted to a hospital for idiopathic cardiomyopathy, put on life support for 48 hours and underwent emergency neurosurgery.

Travis made his first public appearance since the health scare last month (Feb14), when he attended a charity concert in Dallas, Texas.

Despite his remarkable progress, his friends are unsure if he will ever be able to perform again.

Singer Neal MCCoy tells People magazine, "He looks great but is still struggling to use both of his hands. I don't know if he'll ever fully recover, but he's a tough guy with a work ethic."

Whether he returns to the stage remains to be seen, but his family insists that is his goal.

His father, Harold Traywick, says, "I'm sure he would just like to get back to work."