Former NFL Quarterback's Newborn Rushed to Emergency Surgery, Wife Credits God for Saving Her
People in professional sports understand pressure. When you’re on the field, a turned cleat or missed pass or momentary bobble of the ball can cost you a game — and sometimes a career.
The tension isn’t necessarily any easier for those who broadcast their efforts to the world. A sportscaster needs to stay poised, act with equanimity, and always look near perfect.
That’s no easy task, and Samantha (also known as “Sam”) and Christian Ponder both know how it works on and off the field. Christian was a quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, and Sam hosts ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown.”
The high-power couple has experienced more than their fair share of strain and stress. Yet nothing could’ve prepared them for the challenges they would deal with after the birth of their latest child.
They already have two kids, four-year-old Scout and one-year-old True. In the middle of July, they welcomed baby Price.
Yet Today reported that during the week of July 29, something happened to Price. The exact details of the little girl’s ailment haven’t come to light.
However, Sam went to Instagram to say that the baby’s ailment was severe enough that it required fast medical care — and surgery. “Through a series of terrifying and sudden events, our sweet newborn baby Price ended up in emergency surgery in the middle of the night,” she wrote.
If you’ve ever had a child, you get that feeling of helplessness. When something goes wrong with that tiny, helpless life you helped create, the world itself seems to stop its spinning and the very blood in your veins congeals.
It’s a terrifying thing, and Ponder experienced every bit of that parental agony. “We were short on time and, frankly, in shock,” she said.
“Thanks to the incredible surgical team (at Mount Sinai Hospital) and their skill and decisiveness, our precious girl made it. They treated her like their own, and answered all our blubbering fearful questions.”
Whatever afflicted Price, it must’ve been serious. The baby ended up in the neonatal intensive-care unit.
Ponder added, “Her recovery in the NICU was nothing short of miraculous for a tiny body that had just undergone such trauma. I cannot thank the women who cared for her day and night enough.”
The Washington Post stated that Price has been discharged and returned home. That’s a good development for everyone involved.
“We are home now,” Ponder said, “still recovering, but overwhelmed with thankfulness for a God who provided real peace and comfort in the midst of our worst nightmare, incredible surgeons, doctors and nurses, parents who didn’t hesitate to jump on a plane and help, and the prayers of friends and family who believed for her healing.” Now the harried mom says she can get back to the important stuff: Cooing lullabies to her little one “badly.”
“I often struggle with social media,” Ponder admitted. “How do I accurately show what my life off of TV is like without appearing to either complain when reality is hard or brag when reality is pleasant?”
Don’t worry about it, Sam. You’re doing great, and our prayers are with you and tiny Price. May she get better soon.
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