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Fox News anchor Bret Baier’s teenage son, Paul, has announced that his recovery from an emergency open-heart surgery is “going pretty smoothly.”
An MRI last week showed the 16-year-old had developed a golf ball-sized aneurysm in his heart, necessitating emergency surgery. Since his birth, this was his fifth open-heart surgery.
“Tonight, @AmyBaier1 and I want to thank the staff @ChildrensNatl for once again saving our son Paul’s life. You may have noticed I have been absent from #SpecialReport for the last few days — our 16 year old son had to undergo his 5th open heart surgery yesterday. This one was unexpected and considered an emergency,” Bret Baier wrote in a Friday post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“He is doing remarkably well and we are so incredibly grateful to the doctors and nurses at Children’s National. Thank you for your prayers — I will be back on Monday,” Bret Baier added in his tweet.
The LA Times reported: “Baier included in his post a clip of Mike Emanuel, Fox’s chief Washington correspondent, filling in for him. In the clip, Emanuel honorarily appoints Dr. Yves d’Udekem, cardiac surgery chief at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., winner of the week in a nod to the regular segment on Baier’s show. The ordeal began when Paul seemingly caught a common cold. Given his history of heart problems — he was born with five congenital heart defects — Paul’s mother, Amy Baier, played it safe and took him to a doctor.”
“The doctor, Dr. Stein, was very thorough and before we left, she said, ‘Let’s do a chest X-ray, just to be sure everything’s okay,’” Amy told the outlet. The cardiologist reviewed the X-ray and recommended an MRI, which revealed the aneurysm.
“The MRI comes back, and they sit me down and say, ‘This is a really big deal,’” Bret Baier told People magazine. “And they didn’t know whether it might burst, but if it did, it might have been fatal in a matter of minutes.”
Quote: “We have a saying in the Baier family that ‘gratitude is the attitude,’ Amy says. “We learned that from Paul. Because it’s much easier when you focus on all the things you’re grateful for, rather than what is difficult.” https://t.co/tpkUPnSL9B
— Brit Hume (@brithume) May 1, 2024
Fox News host Bret Baier’s son, 16, recovering from emergency open heart surgery for golf ball-sized aneurism https://t.co/x39xuAaocv pic.twitter.com/CTDeRPeKuD
— Page Six (@PageSix) May 2, 2024
Doctors recommended that Paul undergo immediate open-heart surgery. According to his father, Paul took the news calmly.
“He thought I was joking at first, then he absorbed it and said, ‘Okay, let’s do what we need to do,’” Bret Baier said. “He’s always been that warrior, but this was a big one to absorb.”
“As he rolled away on the gurney, it was pretty tough. Very emotional,” he added. “Then we had a waiting game for about 10 hours, which was excruciating.”
In the end, Paul underwent a successful aneurysm removal surgery and was discharged five days post-op. He is currently recovering at home and is expected to avoid any future open-heart procedures.
“I’m so grateful to have the community I have, and to have my life,” Paul told People. “A lot can change in a matter of five hours.”
After receiving a second and third opinion, Paul’s mother, Amy, now believes that practicing caution is always wise.
“You can never be too sure, especially with cardiac kids. The more you check on things, the better. In this case, Paul didn’t even have any cardiac symptoms. We just got lucky,” she said.
