Show notes
Rob Flanagan is a husband and father who lives with his family outside of Boulder, Colorado, and roughly one year ago he and his wife Dana began an ordeal that changed their lives. After a few days of fighting a cold and a slight fever while missing out on attending kindergarten, their daughter Saoirse was suddenly hospitalized and then intubated, and it was unclear if she would ever wake up. On this episode of Paternal, Flanagan recounts the experience of spending days in the ICU with his wife while they awaited word on the health of their daughter, what the doctor’s diagnosis meant for their family, and how he learned to embrace both acceptance and hope on the path to becoming a better father. Episode Timestamps: 00:00 - 05:43 - Introduction 05:43 - 11:54 - A frightening trip to the hospital 11:54 - 18:48 - Intubation and the diagnosis 18:48 - 23:13 - Asking for help and dealing with complex emotions 25:06 - 30:24 - A reawakening and an uncertain future 30:24 - 37:45 - A new reality, and changes in parenting 37:45 - 41:16 - Balancing what is, and what could have been Read The Transcript For This Episode