“Most excruciating time of our lives”: Former NFL quarterback Alex Smith shares the emotional story of his daughter’s fight against a rare form of brain tumor
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Alex Smith is no longer an active quarterback in the NFL but he has left a very respectable legacy, more than his game, the quarterback’s willpower and determination are lauded throughout the league. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Commanders during his stint in the league. Alex Smith has a younger daughter, Sloane Smith, who was diagnosed with a rare form of brain tumor but recently underwent surgery and is now recuperating.
The former quarterback shared on Saturday about his youngest child, while she is recovering from her surgery. Through a post on Instagram, the Smiths shed light on the entire story. Sloane was reportedly rushed to the hospital earlier last month with stroke-like symptoms. The family reportedly found out something very scary about the reason for her symptoms.
“An incredibly strong girl with a ton of fight in her”: Like Alex Smith, his daughter is also a fighter
At the hospital, Sloane had to undergo an MRI and once the results came out, the doctors informed them that “She had a large brain tumor and needed an emergency craniotomy,” This is not a common disease but is a “Very rare form of malignant tumor with very few documented case without a clear road map for treatment,” as per the official Instagram post.
Alex Smith’s daughter underwent surgery at the Stanford Children’s Health Hospital and there the doctors successfully removed all of the tumors in a time span of 10 hours. That is a long time to be under the knife and it comes as no surprise that when their daughter was being operated on, the Smiths were going through hell not knowing if she was going to make it or not.
“The 10-hour procedure was the most excruciating time of our lives. A clock has never moved so slowly,” the family mentioned in their statement. On the positive side of things, their daughter has now completely healed from the surgery and is now “back to her bubbly self. Singing, dancing, laughing, and feeling good.”
The family added, “We are currently awaiting more tests and gathering as many opinions as we can from doctors across the country to decide the best path forward.” As this was a tough time for them, they were forced to distance themselves from the limelight and withdrew themselves from the public eye and even their close friends. They apologized to them for this by stating, “We are sorry if we seem withdrawn, scans, labs, and trying our best to navigate through this. Most importantly, we’re healing together as a family.”
Alex Smith’s family is no stranger to being put in situations of health scares. The 38-year-old quarterback 2018 suffered a brutal right leg injury while he was playing for the Washington Commanders. The doctors initially told him that his leg would have to be amputated.
However, the Smiths are fighters, and beating all the odds runs in their blood as the quarterback came back to play in 2020 and helped the Washington Commanders reach the NFC East title while winning the Comeback Player of the Year. He retired the following year in 2021. His daughter clearly is a fighter like her dad and it is good to see that she is making a speedy recovery and going back to leading her normal life!
Also read: “Don’t think it’s real”: Tom Brady’s insane hole-in-one shot sends NFL Twitter into a frenzy
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Sumedh Joshi
(2289 Articles Published)