After a 10-hour procedure, the teen athlete son of Bret Beier had a golf ball-sized aneurysm removed.
It was incredibly devastating when Fox News anchor Bret Baier described the emotional journey leading up to his teenage son’s emergency open heart surgery. After what began as a common cold turned into a potentially fatal diagnosis.
Last year, his 16-year-old son Paul Baier, a standout player on the varsity tennis and golf teams, had his fifth open heart surgery after doctors in Washington, D.C., found a golf ball-sized aneurysm that was on the verge of rupturing.
In an exclusive interview with People, Paul said, “I’m so grateful to have my life.” In just five hours, a lot can change.
A Common Cold That Made All the Difference
At first, the family, who lived in Palm Beach and Washington, assumed Paul had a simple rhinovirus, or a simple cold. However, a chest X-ray revealed something odd, thanks to his mother Amy’s intuition, who insisted on additional testing because Paul had a history of heart issues.
Amy remembered, “The X-ray revealed something close to the lungs.” “Just to be safe, we sent it to his cardiologist.
Paul’s life was probably saved by that prudence.
Within a day, from MRI to major surgery
Bret and Paul were shocked to learn that the mass was a dangerous aneurysm connected to Paul’s heart while they were back in Washington for what they thought would be a routine check-up.
Bret, who was clearly shaken, recalled the incident and stated, “If it burst, it could have been fatal in minutes.”
In spite of the horrifying news, Paul maintained his composure. He said to his father, “All right, let’s do what we have to do.”
The father and son went to the golf course the night before the surgery and had a bittersweet moment together when Paul beat his father on the last hole with a birdie. He was wheeled into a torturous 10-hour operation the following morning.
