Fox News' "Special Report" host Bret Baier is featured in this week's issue of People magazine, with an article about his 1-year-old son Paul, who had to undergo two open-heart surgeries to correct a hole in his heart and other coronary issues.
"It was the highest of highs to the lowest of lows," Baier tells People, on learning of his son's heart troubles on the day he was born.
The article reveals that President Bush called Baier's family on the day of Paul's first surgery, and that the late White House Press Secretary Tony Snow (an ex-Fox Newser himself) would email every day. Baier served as White House Correspondent for Fox News before assuming duties as the host of "Special Report."
Baier tells People that working through his son's difficult year was "extremely hard."
"I had to focus on the story of the day but kept drifting back to the image of Paul hooked up to all the machines," he said. "He's reminded us how fragile life really is."
Paul will undergo two more surgeries within the next ten years. For more, pick up a copy of this week's People magazine.
Over Thanksgiving, Baier told the Huffington Post that he was thankful for his son's health:
I am thankful for a healthy and active 17 month old son who just today tipped over a vase, a crystal candlestick and a picture frame; who threw his cereal bowl on the floor and wiped jelly from his English muffin on the rug; who said "no!" dozens of times with a smile on his face as he tried to take down a painting on the wall. He also ran to me when I was leaving for work yelling 'Dada!' at the top of his lungs -- I am grateful for all of it