Fox NFL sideline reporter Erin Andrews got to spend Christmas Eve with her family in Montana, but the gathering ended in a nearby hospital following a “horrible” experience.
On Thursday’s episode of the Calm Down podcast that she co-hosts with Charissa Thompson, Andrews explained that her dad, Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist Steven Andrews, is recovering from a heart attack as well as another hospital stay after suffering heart attack-like symptoms.
“I didn’t discuss this at the time, but over Christmas … it was just hellacious and horrible — but it ended up having a great ending. My dad had a heart attack in Montana with us, and it was awful,” said Andrews. “And it was right in front of us. I’m very proud of my sister, my mom, [husband] Jarret and I for springing into crazy town action [and] getting paramedics. My dad was life-flighted to another hospital.
“It was a lot, and I was at the time just beyond grateful for the care my dad received — from the firefighters and the helicopter to the people in Bozeman hospital who took care of him. So, it’s been a lot for us the last three months.”
Andrews, who had worked a Dec. 20 game for Fox, had to go from that traumatic event to work the Sunday, Dec. 28 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills.
Andrews added that her father was recently admitted to a hospital again following more symptoms.
“Our PTSD was tested again when my son FaceTimed my father the other day, and he answered from a hospital bed in Tampa,” she said. “My entire body seized up … Well, good news, my dad didn’t have another heart attack, but he had all the symptoms of having one. So, for four or five days, our family was just wrecked, like, oh my God, this poor man can’t catch a break.
“The moral of the story is, thank God my dad is alive, but my dad is alive because of these healthcare workers, and I just feel like they are people that don’t get as much credit as they deserve.”
Andrews got emotional explaining that she and her sister, Kendra, are going to get checked out as cardiovascular disease is hereditary.
“This is where I’ll cry. My dad takes care of himself so much, and like, he does such a good job, and I feel so bad. He needs a break. Cardiovascular disease is so f*cking horrible,” Andrews said.
Adding to the heartbreaking theme of the episode, Thompson also shared that her grandmother died last week.