Tragic Details About Bret Baier's Son Paul & His Health Issues

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Being born to a celebrity may seem like everything in that kid's life is going to be smooth sailing, but that's simply not the case. Nepo babies, like everyone else, are prone to all kinds of issues and setbacks, including health-related ones. This is the situation for Paul Baier, the older son of Fox News' Bret Baier and Amy Baier.

Paul, who has put his father's true height on blast, had already undergone five open-heart surgeries before he turned 18. His first was when he was a newborn in 2007, and the most recent was in April 2024. Bret posted a side-by-side of the first and fifth surgeries to his Instagram, thanking the hospital staff for helping his son. Paul was born with five congenital heart defects, and Bret told People, "His heart was essentially pumping the wrong way, and we didn't know before birth."

Having to witness your young child go through something so traumatic once, let alone five times, takes its toll. "As a parent, watching your kid go down the hall on this gurney, you want to be the one on the gurney," Bret shared after Paul's fourth surgery. "You don't want your kid to have to go through this." The Fox News personality added that there was a chance Paul might not have survived that surgery, which was heartbreaking to imagine for a 13-year-old. This experience is only one of the tragic details in Bret's life. In 2014, Bret wrote a book about Paul's heart disease battle called "Special Heart: A Journey of Faith, Hope, Courage and Love."

A special way the Baier family gives back to the doctors and nurses who have been there for Paul Baier during all his trials and tribulations is their annual tradition of donating toys to Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., where Paul was treated. Amy Baier shared a carousel on Instagram in December 2024 about the toy drive, writing, "We've been doing it for over a decade. We are always blown away by the amazing surgeons, doctors, and nurses who impact positive outcomes to so many heart [heroes]."

Unfortunately, heart disease isn't the only health-related issue Paul's had to battle. In 2019, the Baier family was in a scary accident after their car flipped while driving on an icy road in Montana. Thankfully, they received help from a good Samaritan and were able to get to the hospital promptly. Everyone was "banged up, but alive," Bret said in a statement to People.

Not long after the terrifying incident, Bret posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, an important message for people to remember: "Don't take anything for granted – every day is a blessing – and family is everything. It's always good to remind yourself of that – before something does it for you."