Greg Olsen, of the Carolina Panthers, is currently leading his team with 293 receiving yards, all of this while not knowing whether his upcoming child will be able to live or not.
Olsen and his wife, Kara Dooley, who already have a one-year old named Tate, are expecting twins on Tuesday October 8.
The set of twins are a boy and girl, but Olsen does not know if he will have the boy alive for too long due to its heart complications. The fetus' left ventricle is smaller than right ventricle.
Heart defect is rare and known as hypolastic left heart syndrome. It occurs when blood never pumps through left ventricle of the heart. In other words, it is like having half a heart.
Though the couple knew about the complications, you would never tell by the way Olsen has performed on the field, but according to his wife Kara, the tight end has been deeply wounded by the chance of losing one of his babies.
"Eight years I've known Greg I have never seen him cry until we got that diagnoses," said Kara in an ESPN interview.
For Olsen, football took a seat in the background saying that his performances in practice did not matter as, at times, he performed half-heartedly.
A twin has never been saved using a special procedure which will require three major surgeries.
What has surprised Olsen and his wife the most was the support they received from Panthers' owner Jerry Richardson, who accompanied Olsen and Kara to Boston to see specialist.
With the three surgeries, Trent Jerry (TJ), which is what the couple will call the child, will have a 75 percent chance of surviving.
According to reports, the baby girl, Talbot, will be fine, the family will hold T.J. for a few moments and then he will begin the first of three heart procedures almost immediately after entering this world
Olsen just realized that he has a tough task this upcoming week. He said that he understands he has to be there for his child, but at the same time, Olsen has never thought about not joining his teammates to play their Sunday game.
Olsen and Kara are attempting to increase awareness of hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
We wish them the best.
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