Today show host Karl Stefanovic has revealed he was left ‘panicked’ and ‘feeling guilty’ after daughter Harper, two, was rushed to hospital on Wednesday.
Speaking on air Friday, the presenter, 47, explained his daughter had ‘the sniffles and a small cough’ on Wednesday, which led to him and wife Jasmine, 38, taking her to the GP.
But her condition quickly deteriorated, with her temperature reaching a dangerous 40°C and her heart rate racing to 200bpm.
Today show host Karl Stefanovic has revealed he was left ‘panicked’ and ‘feeling guilty’ after daughter Harper, two, was rushed to hospital on Wednesday
She was then rushed to hospital in an ambulance and diagnosed with a respiratory syncytial virus, which are common in children in the winter months.
‘Two days ago, my daughter Harper had what’s she had so many times this year, a sniffle and a small cough,’ he told viewers.
‘Within a few hours we gave her Nurofen and Panadol like advised and put her down for a sleep.
‘When she woke up she was breathing really quickly, wheezing, and her heart rate and temperature were through the roof.’
Karl and wife Jasmine welcomed Harper in 2020, their first child together. Karl shares three older children with his ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn: River, 15, Willow, 16, and Jackson, 22
He went on to explain that things quickly went from bad to worse, with little Harper eventually ending up in hospital.
‘So we took her to our GP who was brilliant.
‘But within a couple of minutes her condition deteriorated, her temperature was more than 40 and her heart beat was climbing over 200bpm, we were really worried.’
The star explained how the ‘incredible’ GP quickly stabilised her with a nebuliser and called an ambulance.
Today show host Karl Stefanovic, 47, was every inch the doting daddy as he took in Vivid on a yacht with wife Jasmine and daughters Willow and Harper earlier this month
‘From the ambulance, the ambulance officers were incredible,’ he went on.
‘At North Shore Hospital more doctors worked on her and she was admitted after several hours to emergency.
‘They did an incredible job and the hospital staff were unbelievable.’
The presenter said he was revealing the scary ordeal to show solidarity with the ‘thousands of parents in similar situations’.
Karl also spoke to Associate Professor Margie Danchin (pictured) a paediatrician at Royal Children’s Hospital, who explained that parents are ‘really dealing with it’ at the moment.
‘We were lucky, and we are lucky, that it wasn’t more serious. But this is a shared situation that’s why we’re doing it,’ Stefanovic said.
‘The thing is you just panic, when doctors start moving fast you panic.
‘We felt guilty, we should have taken her straight to the hospital, we took her to the GP first.’
Karl also spoke to Associate Professor Margie Danchin, a paediatrician at Royal Children’s Hospital, who explained that parents are ‘really dealing with it’ at the moment.
‘This is unfortunately a similar story.
‘After the last two years with Covid being so scary, we’ve seen a huge increase in viral respiratory conditions.
‘In the last month or so we’ve seen an increase in RSVs – parents are really dealing with it.
‘We don’t want parents going to the emergency department either,’ she added.
‘Our emergency departments are really overwhelmed.’
She said that if a child shows increased breathing, blueness around the lips, or if they’re listless and pale, the parent should take them to the emergency department.
Happy times: Jasmine nestled into a rugged up Harper before the boat ride on the harbour earlier this month
Karl and wife Jasmine welcomed Harper in 2020, their first child together. Karl shares three older children with his ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn: River, 15, Willow, 16, and Jackson, 22.
Karl met the model turned shoe designer at a boat party in Sydney just months after his separation from his first wife in 2016.
The couple married at the One&Only Palmilla resort in Mexico in December 2018
In an interview with Stellar magazine in October 2020, Jasmine described Karl’s parenting style as ‘very hands-on’, adding that he ‘helps a lot’
Source: | Dailymail.co.uk