Tyson Fury has opened up on the heart-wrenching moment he feared daughter Athena had died after a phone call from wife Paris.
Fury and wife Paris welcomed their sixth child in August last year but she was put on ventilators early and was dead for as long as three minutes before being revived by miracle workers at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. The world heavyweight champion admits 'everything was perfect' in the initial moments after Athena's birth before a midwife took her from his arms to give her emergency treatment
"If Athena’s heart rate couldn’t be steadied she would probably die from a cardiac arrest. I’d been reduced to nothing. My baby’s life was hanging in the balance and my name and what I did for a living wasn’t going to change a thing," he writes in his new book, Gloves Off, with extracts reported in the Sun.
She was rushed to Alder Hey where she underwent life-saving treatment and started showing signs of improvement, with Fury focusing on his child despite his looming rematch with Deontay Wilder. While out for a jog after she had been taken off the incubator, he received a heart-wrenching call.
Fury writes: "I’d probably only done around three miles when my phone started ringing. It was Paris. She was hysterical. 'The baby's died', she screamed. ‘The baby’s dead. She’s dead. She’s dead'.
"I sprinted to the ward as fast as I could, fearing the worst. My chest burned, my legs were in agony, and as I ran I tried my best to console Paris. ‘It’s going to be alright,’ I panted down the phone. ‘Let the doctors do their job. Don’t worry.'
"When I made it to her bedside, there seemed to be a hundred medics crowding around Athena. Apparently, she’d become completely unresponsive while Paris was holding her, then her heartbeat had faded away to nothing. Athena was resuscitated, but Paris was now losing it.
"A nurse was trying to calm her as the specialist staff went to work. I couldn’t believe what was happening Eventually, to our enormous relief, and with the grace of God the doctors were able to steady Athena."
Athena was steadied but spent three weeks in hospital with Fury sleeping on the floor at the Ronald McDonald House for most of that time - with the fight with Wilder edging ever closer.
He would famously go on to knock out the American in devastating fashion and believes he 'turned her battle into fuel' to inspire the win.
"Sleeping rough on the floor of a hospital wasn’t the best way to prepare for anything, let alone a world heavyweight title bout against a man who was talking up my murder. I’d had a tough time for sure, but not as tough a time as Athena – and she’d shown the strength and willpower to fight her way back to life."
