OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Independent journalist Megyn Kelly got emotional on her show Monday afternoon after revealing her older sister died of a heart attack at the age of 58.
During the Sirius XM “The Megyn Kelly Show” podcast, Kelly said she didn’t plan to talk about her sister’s tragic death but decided to open up about the tragedy so she could speak with her audience about “what really matters in life.”
“I gotta tell you that something really sad happened in my family over the weekend,” Kelly told her audience as her voice began to crack. “My sister died. She was 58. Her name was Suzanne Crosley. And she died suddenly on Friday of a heart attack. She hasn’t been in very good health over the past couple of years. Just like sort of one problem after another. So it was sudden and it was unexpected. I went up, got news of it right after the show, and went right up and was there with my mom and my brother Paul and my nephew Brian, one of her three kids when she passed.”
“So, it was really hard,” the host continued. “It was extremely emotional. My poor mom. As all moms and dads know, this is not the order in which this is supposed to happen. It’s just a reminder to hug the people you love. How short and tenuous life is. And how important it is to stay close to the people you love. You know, we can’t all be perfect on that front. But we can make a little effort day by day to, you know, shoot a text or return a call. I’m never very good at that. So it’s a big reminder to me.”
“And just how fleeting things can be,” she added. “And how we get ourselves so upset over sh*t that doesn’t matter. This is one that does. And then you of course find out who your friends are. And who the jerks are in a situation like this too.”
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Earlier this year, Kelly broke down on air after discussing a major accident her son Thatcher was involved in, which resulted in him having to go to the ICU with internal bleeding from lacerations to his spleen.
“Thank God he’s okay, so let me start with the lead. And did the run just fine. … But was inspired by this cave-like structure that was on the run to check it out,” Kelly said.
Kelly said her son went with his instructor to a more advanced part where people “hike up to … and take a little break,” saying her son was tired and “apparently didn’t have the strength to make the climb. And he fell. And I get in the ambulance. He seems okay. He’s speaking he says he fell ten feet and landed on some rocks while hiking up this part of the mountain. But he’s got an IV in him.”
“So we get to the hospital and they say they need to run some tests,” Kelly said. “Lo and behold there was internal bleeding. And he had lacerated, had two severe lacerations to his spleen and a third the size of which they weren’t able to determine. So, three tears of his spleen…and he was bleeding internally and they said you need to go to a more serious hospital right now.”
“Our surgeon was saying ‘don’t move him … he needs to be in the ICU, he needs to be in the hospital bed,’” Kelly shared. “‘And he is not allowed to even get up and go to the bathroom. He can not leave the bed.’ Because the bleeding’s not stopping. We don’t want him to lose the spleen. If there’s any way of repairing it we’d like to do that. But it’s not safe to move him. We’re looking into the med-evac flights.”
They decided not to move him and the trauma center found an interventional radiologist, who was not a pediatric specialist, but if things “went south” that person would be there. After a few more scary moments, things leveled off and he got better. After six days, the former NBC host said her son got to leave that hospital and go home.
It was then that Kelly broke down during her show and got emotional about the traumatic experience their whole family had gone through.
“You know, the amount of stress and the love that you have for your children,” Kelly said through teary eyes. “And the fragility of these little bodies who totally depend on you. And the enormous responsibility you have for their well-being you know for making huge decisions. And the importance of family and friends right, and good colleagues.”
She grabbed a tissue and blotted her eyes and explained that it left her thinking about the saying a guest once mentioned to her — that the only thing that matters in life is “within 15 feet of you” — and she said she found that to be true as she thanked her audience for the “connection” she said was “valuable” to her as well.
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