The news anchor's son underwent emergency surgery due to a near-fatal aneurysm.
Bret Baier's son is on the mend. ET's Kevin Frazier spoke to the Special Report with Bret Baier host in the wake of his 16-year-old son, Paul's, fifth open-heart surgery, and Bret gave an update on the resilient teen.
"He's doing really well. He's on the mend," Bret told ET. "He's home in good spirits and he's hitting all the marks, so his doctors and nurses couldn't be happier and obviously we're blessed."
Paul was born with congenital heart defects, but had been healthy as of late, which made the recent surgery "a surprise."
"He's 6'4 -- almost 6'4 and a half -- and I look up to him. He plays on the varsity golf team. He's a straight-A student," Bret said. "This was a surprise. We just didn't see it coming."
The surgery was necessitated after Paul's doctor ordered a chest X-ray due to an unrelated concern only to discover a golf ball-sized aneurysm.
"We were very lucky," Bret said. "That's maybe some divine intervention there."
Indeed it was, as Bret noted that, had the aneurysm not been found, "the thing could've burst and it could be fatal within minutes." Instead, within 12 hours of the discovery, Paul went under the knife.
"I had to tell him... that we were going to have open-heart surgery within 12 hours. He said, 'Are you kidding me?' He looked at me and said, 'Dad, is this real?' And I said, 'Yeah.' He gulped and he said, 'Let's get it done. Let's plow through,'" Bret recalled. "He was really stoic in the moment."
While Bret and his wife, Amy, waited for Paul to get out of surgery, the couple leaned on each other.
"Each one of these surgeries we always say, 'We're one day closer to getting home.' It's pretty tough to sit there. It's excruciating in the waiting rooms," Bret said. "... My wife says our motto is, 'Gratitude is the attitude.' We're really grateful for where we are."
Also concerned for Paul's well-being was his 13-year-old brother, Daniel.
"It was stressful for him," Bret admitted, noting that, after surgery, "We Zoomed with him three times a day."
"He's really happy now," Bret added of his younger son. "He's talked to his bro and he's ready to get moving and get back on the golf course."
Paul is likewise ready to get back to his regular activities, as Bret told ET, "He's ready to get going. He wants to get back on the golf course... He's all about business and getting out of the hospital. Now he's recovering."
"He's in really good spirits," the proud dad added. "He's a fighter. He's really tough."
With Paul on the road to recovery, Bret is grateful for the medical staff at Children's National Hospital.
"We're just really blessed that they found it, that they fixed it," he said. "... I think it's really important for everybody to say thank you to the doctors and nurses because they are top notch in the world and that's the reason Paul is alive."
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