GOP hopeful Rick Santorum’s daughter Bella, 3, was hospitalized Friday, the politician’s campaign has confirmed.
Bella was born in 2008 and suffers from a genetic condition called Trisomy 18- a chromosomal disorder that is second most common next to Down’s syndrome and results from extra genetic material on the 18th chromosome. The disorder can be serious for a vast number of afflicted babies, the majority female, with few surviving gestation and when they are born, 80% of those afflicted not surviving the first year of life.
Santorum’s daughter Bella (short for Isabella) has been hospitalized twice during the election cycle thus far, but his wife Karen says that the media overstates the severity of the toddler’s condition. Mrs. Santorum says that Bella’s illness isn’t life threatening, and that the family is blessed with her relative good health:
“It’s funny, reading articles when people actually write about my little girl and they really aren’t accurate at all, what they’re saying. People have said that she has a terminal illness and she doesn’t. Her life is fragile but Bella’s doing great, she’s strong, she’s healthy right now and I thank God for that.”
Santorum’s daughter’s last hospitalization was due to pneumonia, but the reasons behind her most recent bout of illness were not disclosed. Santorum campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley released a simple statement on behalf of the Santorum family:
“Rick and his wife Karen have taken their daughter Bella to the hospital. The family requests prayers and privacy as Bella works her way to recovery.”
Earlier this week at a campaign rally in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania- Santorum’s home state- the GOP contender was present with his six children and wife. Of Bella, he told the crowd that she was “doing just great and she sends her best to everybody here.”
