In July 2023, just two days after making an appearance at the premiere of Barbie, Pennington, 59, was rushed to the ICU after his throat closed due to an abscess in his throat.

Pennington drove himself to the hospital where he recalled asking for a steroid to help with his sore throat. The next thing he knew the doctor said the Extreme Makeover: Home Edition host needed to be flown to Denver to undergo emergency surgery.

“And I wake up and I have a tube in my throat.”

Following the procedure, Pennington released some details, writing on Instagram, “Turns out, that sore throat I’ve had for the last month was actually an abscess which had grown so large it was closing off my airway.”

“Next thing I know, I was intubated and flown to the ICU in Denver. Wednesday I had surgery and yesterday afternoon I was released from the ICU…A great reminder to LISTEN to your body when it’s telling you something.”

Now that Pennington is completely recovered, he’s ready to rock the block once again.

“I’m great,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “You know what’s great is if you almost die, you get so much attention. It feels so nice to be that loved.”

“I’m planning another one… No, I’m kidding!”

Changing his tone and speaking more seriously, the HGTV star said his near-death experience helped put things into perspective.

“It made me realize you just don’t know when your timecard’s gonna get pulled, so wake up, live every single day to the fullest.”

“I mean that’s why the 60s is gonna be like time to start doing everything and that’s what I love about being part of these projects because I think we all want to make sure we’ve done things to be remembered.”

It’s so great to hear Ty has fully recovered from the frightening medical emergency he dealt with last summer.