Fresno State QB Derek Carr’s newborn son home after 23 days in the hospital
Fresno State quarterback Derek Carr's joy turned to anxiety just hours after his newborn son, Dallas, was born on August 6.
Thankfully, this story has a happy ending and many chapters ahead of it. After spending 23 days in the hospital, Dallas Carr got to go home on Tuesday, but not before some frantic moments.
“I saw my son throwing up this dark green stuff, and I knew something was up, but I didn’t know what,” Carr said. “I’ve been around new babies, and this wasn’t normal. I called the nurse over, and you could tell she was worried. The doctor comes in and tells me he needs to be rushed to another hospital and may need to have surgery.
“I called Coach and bawled my eyes out. He couldn’t even understand me, but it’s almost 3 a.m., so I know he has to be freaking out when I called.”
Dallas Carr's intestines had a knot, and he needed the surgery soon after he was born to repair the problem. Carr missed two days of practice and then on the first day back at practice, Dallas needed surgery again, as the spot that was originally repaired was too thin to let anything pass through.
“Coach Schramm told me he loved me, gave me a hug and told me my faith and my family mattered the most right now,” Carr said in the article. “I’m glad I had my helmet on because I just put my head down and started crying. My poor guy has been through so much already.”
Those two practices were the only ones that he missed. He spent the rest of the duration of Dallas's hospital stay balancing football and family, heading to the hospital to see his son after practice and then waking up early to do it again the next day. Derek leaned on his faith and didn't tell anyone outside of his family or the football program about Dallas -- he only wanted the article about his situation published after Dallas was home with him and his wife Heather.
The brother of David, the former Fresno State quarterback and No. 1 overall pick of the Houston Texans in their first draft, Derek Carr's continued success this season will determine a lot for the Bulldogs. Fresno returns 16 starters from a 9-4 season last year when he passed for 4,104 yards and 37 TDs, single season tallies second only to his brother. If Derek challenges David's marks, Fresno, who kicks off the season Thursday night against Rutgers, could be a BCS buster.
Though as we all know, that would still be a distant second to Dallas.
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