Hank Williams Jr. unexpectedly lost his wife, Mary Jane Thomas, on March 22 and now the cause of her death has been revealed in her autopsy report. According to the coroner, Thomas died due to a “collapsed lung that was punctured during elective surgery” that she had done the previous day, and that her death has been ruled ‘accidental’.
The former model opted to have a series of extensive procedures done including liposuction on her back, arms, and stomach, as well as fat injections and removal of her breast implants. Her medical records listed ‘pneumothorax due to perforated parietal pleura during liposuction with autologous fat reinjection procedure’ as her official cause of death.
Hank Williams Jr.’s Wife, Mary Jane Thomas, Died From a ‘Collapsed Lung’ Following Liposuction and Breast Implant Removal Surgery, Coroner Reveals
The 58-year-old traveled to Florida from her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee to have the cosmetic procedures performed by Dr. Harold Baftis of Baftis Plastic Surgery. The surgery seemingly went smoothly and by 7 pm she was sent to recover at her hotel, Jupiter Beach Resort & Spa in Palm Beach County.
The plastic surgeon was set to meet with Thomas the following day for a follow-up visit when she became ‘unresponsive’ while sitting in an upright position in bed. Thomas was transported to a hospital in hopes of reviving her, but she was pronounced dead upon arrival. According to the report, the surgeon ‘punctured the membrane close to her chest wall following her breast lift procedure’.
Mary Jane Thomas was “sitting up in bed, speaking normally” before succumbing to internal injuries unknown to physicians at the time. The unfortunate error made by her plastic surgeon may have claimed her life, but Thomas was also administered an anticoagulant and had ‘mild brain swelling’ as well as ‘mild coronary artery disease and fatty metamorphosis of the liver’ which is a known sign of alcoholism.
Hank Williams Jr. and Mary Jane Thomas were married for 30 years after having met at one of his country music concerts in 1985. They wed in 1990 and they share a daughter and a son together – the late Katherine Williams-Dunning and Samuel Williams. Despite separating in 2007, the couple reunited in 2011 and resumed their relationship.
Thomas was Williams’ third wife, having been married to Gwen Yeargain from 1971 till 1977 and then Becky White from 1977 until 1983. Both of his previous marriages produced children – son Hank Williams III with Yeargain and daughters Holly and Hilary Williams with White. Mary Jane Thomas’ son, Samuel, took to Instagram to pay tribute to his late mother shortly after her death. “I will always be the son of Mary Jane. RIP MAMA. I love you forever. Miss Spruce Creek High School, Miss Hawaiian Tropic, Miss Mary Jane Williams, my mama forever my everything,” he posted.
