Paul, the teenage son of Fox News anchor Bret Baier, reports that his recuperation from open heart surgery is “going pretty smoothly.”

An MRI last week showed that a golf-ball-sized aneurysm had developed off the 16-year-old’s heart, necessitating the emergency surgery. Since birth, he had had five open heart surgeries.

Bret Baier posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday, saying, “Tonight, @AmyBaier1 and I want to thank the staff @ChildrensNatl for once again saving our son Paul’s life.” Our 16-year-old son had to have his fifth open heart surgery yesterday, as you may have noticed from my absence from #SpecialReport over the past few days. This one was deemed an emergency because it was unexpected. We are extremely thankful to the physicians and nurses at Children’s National for his remarkable recovery. I appreciate your prayers and will see you on Monday.

Baier posted a video of Fox’s chief Washington correspondent, Mike Emanuel, stepping in for him. In reference to the regular segment on Baier’s show, Emanuel honorarily names Dr. Yves d’Udekem, the chief of cardiac surgery at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., as “winner of the week” in the video.

When Paul appeared to have a common cold, the ordeal started. Paul’s mother, Amy Baier, took precautions and took him to a doctor because of his history of heart issues, including five congenital heart defects at birth.

“Dr. Stein was really thorough, and before we left, she suggested that we get a chest X-ray to make sure everything was in order,” Amy told People. A cardiologist reviewed the X-ray and suggested an MRI, which finally showed the aneurysm.

“They sit me down and tell me, ‘This is a really big deal,'” Bret Baier told People magazine after the MRI results were in. “And they had no idea if it would burst, but if it had, it could have been lethal in just a few minutes.”

The doctors advised Paul to have open heart surgery right away. According to his father, Paul handled the news well.

“At first, he thought I was kidding, but after taking it in, he said, ‘Okay, let’s do what we need to do,'” “Bret Baier said.” “This was a big one to absorb, but he’s always been that warrior.”

It was quite difficult as he rolled away on the gurney. Extremely sentimental,” he continued. “After that, we had to wait for ten hours or so, which was really painful.”

After the aneurysm was eventually removed, Paul’s doctors predicted that he would likely never have another open heart operation. He is now well into his six-week recuperation after returning home five days after the procedure.

Paul told People, “I’m so thankful to have my life and the community I have.” In just five hours, a lot can change.

According to Amy, Paul’s mother, the experience gave her peace of mind that it’s always a good idea to exercise caution and seek second and third opinions.

“Especially with children who have heart problems, you can never be too sure. It’s better to check on things more frequently. Paul didn’t even exhibit any cardiac symptoms in this instance. “We simply got lucky,” she remarked.