ESPN’s Laura Rutledge has opened up about the ‘most terrifying day’ of her life, which was Christmas Day in 2023. 

While many had just opened presents from under the tree and were sitting back watching the Kansas City Chiefs play the Las Vegas Raiders, Rutledge in her family were in a panic with her then-7-month-old son Jack. 

After Jack surgery earlier in December, the Rutledge family was gathered at Laura’s grandmother’s home in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, per Front Office Sports, when chaos ensued.  

Jack was suddenly ‘inconsolable’ with Rutledge and her family not knowing what was bothering him until looking at the area where he had surgery, only to find a ‘mᴀssive hematoma’ there.  

Rutledge’s son was taken to the emergency room, where doctors voiced concerns about life-threatening internal bleeding. Laura and Jack were quickly taken via helicopter to Charleston for emergency surgery, while her husband, Josh Rutledge, had to make the two-hour drive.  

‘It was probably the most terrifying day of my life – and I feel very lucky to say that and to have walked away from it with a healthy child because there’s so many people who don’t get to have that happen,’ Rutledge said. ‘He was in so much pain – the poor little guy. It was just awful.’

ESPN reporter Laura Rutledge has opened up about the ‘most terrifying day’ of her life 

Rutledge’s baby son, Jack, was rushed to the hospital and taken into emergency surgery

In Charleston, doctors found that Jack’s body had created its own blood clot, meaning that any bleeding was not spreading to other organs. 

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‘I still think it was a miracle. I don’t know how else to describe it,’ Rutledge said. ‘The doctors there who were experts on these things were amazed by it too. We’ve gone back to the hospital in Connecticut to see his doctors monthly in the aftermath, and we kind of thought we’d be doing that forever since we never knew what caused it.’ 

‘But recently, about two months ago, we went in and they were like, “You don’t have to come back. He’s good!”‘

Jack will turn 2 in May, with Rutledge having an older daughter, five-year-old Reese. 

Rutledge is in New Orleans for the Super Bowl this week, her first time in the city since covering the Sugar Bowl, which was delayed by a day after a terror attack on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day.