Getty Quarterback Alex Smith #11 of the San Francisco 49ers.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith shared some heartbreaking personal news over Instagram on Saturday, June 25, regarding one of his three children.
Smith, who retired from the NFL in 2021, revealed that his youngest child, Sloane, had to undergo surgery to remove a brain tumor and that the family faced a “challenging time” during the frightening ordeal.
‘Was the Most Excruciating Time of Our Lives’
Along with a few pictures of his only daughter — which included an MRI of the tumor — Smith went into detail about the health scare.
“This is Sloane Kenzington Smith, our baby, the youngest of three and our only girl,” Smith wrote. “She is sweet, selfless, intelligent, hilarious, witty, fun-loving, an artist, a singer, and a dancing machine. But most of all she is an incredibly strong girl that has a ton of fight in her.”
The former quarterback explained that the photo of Slone with a unicorn painted on her face was taken in May, before the family’s “lives changed.”
“On May 10th, Sloane was rushed to the ER with stroke-like symptoms. She had an MRI and the doctors quickly informed us she had a large brain tumor and needed an emergency craniotomy.
“The 10-hour procedure was the most excruciating time of our lives. A clock has never moved so slowly. The incredible neurosurgeons @stanfordchildrens did a miraculous job and were able to remove 100% of the tumor.”
Luckily, Smith said that his youngest has since returned to her old, enthusiastic self since the surgery.
“Sloane — in her true form — bounced back from brain surgery like a rockstar! She didn’t skip a beat. After weeks of waiting on pathology, we learned that Sloane’s tumor is a very rare malignant tumor with very few documented cases — without a clear road map for treatment. We are currently awaiting more tests and gathering as many opinions as we can from doctors across the country to decide the best path forward. We wish this were easy, clear-cut and someone gave us a how-to guide. It’s anything but that.
“All we know is what is most important — and that’s SLOANE. She has healed from surgery. Back to her bubbly self. Singing, dancing, laughing and feeling good.”
‘We Know It’s Not Over’
Smith usually doesn’t talk about the private lives of his family, mainly his children, and he addressed that when thanking everyone involved.
“I know we don’t post much about our kids but we felt necessary to post this and say THANK YOU. Thank you to our amazing medical team, family, friends, acquaintances and even some strangers who have touched our lives in the last month and a half. We have struggled to keep up on calls, texts, communication and trying to keep loved ones updated. This has been by far the most challenging time we have EVER been through. We know it’s not over and we have a journey ahead of us, but without all of you we could not have gotten this far. We are sorry if we seem withdrawn. It’s because we are… We have been inundated with doctors appointments, scans, labs and trying our best to navigate through this. Most importantly, we’re healing together as a family.”
During his 16 seasons in the NFL, Smith played for the 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs and the Washington Commanders. In 2018, he suffered a horrible compound fracture in the fibula and tibia of his right leg and underwent 17 surgeries. Smith ended up coming back in 2020 and became Washington’s starter. He earned NFL Comeback Player of the Year after leading the team to a division title.