Rick Santorum: 'Love the gift that god gives you'
Former Pennsylvania senator shares a deeply personal story on 'Tucker Carlson Today'
Former Republican Pennsylvania senator and political commentator Rick Santorum opened up to Tucker Carlson about the death of his son and how it affected him and his wife Karen Friday on Fox Nation's "Tucker Carlson Today." Gabriel was the couple’s eighth child and he survived for only two hours.
Santorum said the event was "devastating" and was the most challenging moment in his life.
"We are sitting there going over this one spot on the sonogram, he drops the wand and says 'I have to get the doctor," Santorum said.
"The doctor comes in and he looks at me, and this is as cold as I can ever remember, he says, 'your son has a fatal defect and he’s going to die.’"
Santorum noted that this conversation with the doctor took place at a time when he was growing in his Christian faith, and noted that he remembers having a "conversation with God," questioning why He would take the couple's son.
"It was devastating," Santorum said.
The former senator also described the evolution of a diary his wife kept each time she got pregnant as a way to share the experience with her kids as they got older.
"She was a neonatal intensive care nurse, so pregnancies were a really joyful time and she would keep notes," he said.
"She was keeping notes about our son so she kept writing these letters to him. Hoping someday he would read them. She wrote these letters, at the end, she kept writing because it was her way to get this stuff out."
Santorum said that his wife shared the letters with her mother, who had gone through a similar experience losing a child to SIDS.
"She said we have to publish this," Santorum said. "We have to publish these letters. Anyway, we found a Catholic publisher to publish it, it sold out. It's still around, it's called ‘Letters to Gabriel.’"
You can watch Tucker Carlson's full conversation with Rick Santorum on Fox Nation's "Tucker Carlson Today."
New episodes of "Tucker Carlson Today" are available every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday exclusively on Fox Nation.
Fox Nation programs are viewable on-demand and from your mobile device app, but only for Fox Nation subscribers. Go to Fox Nation to start a free trial and watch the extensive library from your favorite Fox News personalities.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.