Bret Michaels' Daughter Tells Oprah She Feared Losing Her Daddy

9-year-old has rocker father choked up, as he recalls praying hard

Stricken rocker Bret Michaels' little daughter Raine told Oprah she was afraid her dad might die when he suffered his near-fatal brain hemorrhage.

"To think that my dad wouldn't be growing up with me and my dad wouldn’t be walking me down the aisle for my wedding, it was just really heartbreaking," the little girl said Wednesday as the talk show queen interviewed her and her famous father.

Michaels, appearing via satellite from Phoenix, wiped away tears and told Winfrey, "That's what you think about," after you suffer such a harrowing ordeal. "It gave me this unsinkable strength. It gave me this amazing courage to want to survive."

Michaels, 47, suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage, an often fatal condition from which even survivors often never fully recover. Michaels said he prayed hard for a second chance.

"You gotta let me live through this," he recalled begging God. "I've done a lot of rotten things. I'm asking for a break here."

Michaels said the brush with death, "Instantly puts into your life what matters most," naming his family and friends.

Michaels was among the 20 percent who recover completely from the bleeding at the base of the brain stem, according to his neurosurgeon, Dr. Joseph Zabramski, though the rocker said he is still undergoing rehabilitation and is having trouble moving his lower body. He continues to suffer from a stiff neck and headaches.

Michaels's advice for others who suspect that something is wrong: Don't wait around. "You need to go to the emergency room," he said, adding that he's grateful he has been given a second chance even if he doesn’t quite know why. "I don't know what that reason is just yet."

Michaels hopes to return to Sunday night's live finale of "The Celebrity Apprentice," the Donald Trump-hosted show in which he and Holly Robinson Peete are the two finalists from episodes taped late last year. The show airs on NBC at 9 p.m. EST.

Win or lose, the Poison singer plans to resume his band's tour on May 28 with a show in Biloxi, Miss. Already a reality TV veteran from his "Rock of Love" show, Michaels will star in VH1's "Bret Michaels: Life as I Know It," which premieres May 31.

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