Fox News host Bret Baier opened up about his 13-year-old son’s 10-hour heart surgery last month in an interview with People magazine published Wednesday.
Baier told the magazine that his son Paul Baier has “made leaps and bounds” since his fourth open-heart surgery last month, which the family hopes is the biggest one he will need.
“As a parent, watching your kid go down the hall on this gurney, you want to be the one on the gurney,” Baier told People magazine. “You don’t want your kid to have to go through this.”
“That surgery was heavy, and clearly, he could’ve not made it, and we’re just really fortunate that he did. And so, it’s excruciating to go through. We don’t want to go through it again,” Baier said.
The host noted that during the procedure, his son’s connector exploded, prompting blood to go “everywhere.”
Paul, who was born with five congenital heart defects, said it was “sort of scary leading up” to the procedure but said “once it’s happened, you’re like, ‘What was I scared about?’ ”
The teenager underwent his three previous surgeries as a newborn, at 10 months old and at 6 years old. But December’s surgery was the most complicated. The family hopes he will not need another procedure until his mid-20s.
“Hopefully we won’t, but we’ll play it by ear, and I think this is going to be the one that really sets him apart as far as getting him to where he’s going to feel good. At least, that’s the thought,” Baier said.
The Fox News host told the magazine that at birth Paul’s “heart was essentially pumping the wrong way,” which was discovered when a nurse took him for tests as he turned pale. The medical professionals determined he required surgery “in the first few hours” or “otherwise, he would die.”
Baier’s wife, Amy Baier, celebrated her son’s “resilience” and “incredible attitude” in the interview with People.
“I think he looks at it positively, and I think that’s sort of the secret, is that great attitude. I think that helps the healing process,” she said.
The couple also has a 10-year-old son named Daniel.
Paul looks forward to being able to play his favorite sport, golf, in about six to eight weeks.