Bret Baier’s Son ‘Thankful for Everything’ After Emergency Open-Heart Surgery
By Movieguide® Contributor
Fox News host Bret Baier and his family had a scare when his son, Paul, needed to undergo emergency open-heart surgery to remove an aneurysm the size of a golf.
The surgery was one of many heart surgeries Paul has undergone in 16 years. He was born with five congenital heart defects and had his first procedure as a newborn. This surgery, however, was different as it was an emergency response to a grave concern.
Leading up to the discovery of the aneurysm, Paul was taken to the doctor for a precautionary visit after he caught a minor cold. Though the doctor didn’t find anything concerning, he ordered a chest X-ray to be extra careful due to Paul’s history of heart problems.
“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, Paul’s mom, told PEOPLE.
The X-ray returned with what looked like tissue in Paul’s lungs, so he was sent to get an MRI for a better look at what was going on.
“The MRI comes back, and they sit me down and say, ‘This is a really big deal. This is an aneurysm the size of a gold ball that has formed off of his heart,” Bret recalled. “And they didn’t know whether it might burst, but if it did, it might have been fatal in a matter of minutes.”
Bret was the one to break the news to Paul, and it was so unexpected that he did not believe his dad at first.
“He thought I was joking at first, then he absorbed it and said, ‘Okay, let’s do what we need to do,’” Bret recalled. “He’s always been that warrior, but this was a big one to absorb.”
Given the risk, the doctors recommended immediate surgery and scheduled an operation for the next morning, April 25.
“As he rolled away on the gurney, it was pretty tough,” Bret recalled. “Then we had a waiting game for about 10 hours, which was excruciating.”
The aneurysm was removed without any hiccups, and Paul is now in recovery. Despite his history of heart problems, the doctors believe that this will also be the last open-heart surgery he will need.
With six weeks of recovery in front of him, Paul is in high spirits and thankful that the problem was caught while there was still time for doctors to intervene.
“It’s important to be thankful for everything you have, every second of every day,” Paul said.
“We have a saying in the Baier family that ‘gratitude is the attitude.’ We learned that from Paul,” Amy added. “It’s much easier when you focus on all the things you’re grateful for, rather than what is difficult.”
Bret is also grateful for the medical team who saved his son.
“Tonight, Amy and I want to thank the staff Children’s National Hospital for once again saving our son Paul’s life,” the broadcaster posted on Facebook. “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.”
Movieguide® previously reported:
Fox News anchor Bret Baier revealed that his son, Paul, has “made leaps and bounds” after his fourth open-heart surgery.
The 13-year-old is recovering after a complicated 10-hour heart surgery.
“It’s sort of scary leading up [to the surgery] but once it’s happened, you’re like, ‘What was I scared about?’ It’s just the leading-up-to-it part,” Paul told PEOPLE via Zoom alongside his mother and father.
Paul had his first procedure as a newborn, one at 10 months old and the third when he was 6 years old.
Baier’s son was born with five congenital heart defects, which were only discovered post-birth.
“His heart was essentially pumping the wrong way, and we didn’t know before birth,” Paul’s father, 50, said. “A nurse actually noticed that he was turning pale and took him back for tests. At first [they thought] it was an infection and then a cardiologist said that he’s got this issue, a very complex heart, and he would need surgery in the first few hours. Otherwise, he would die.”
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