Tyson Fury has revealed that his wife Paris Fury endured a harrowing miscarriage at six months on the eve of his title fight against Oleksandr Usyk back in May.
And sadly this is far from her only heartbreak over the years. Ahead of his rematch against Usyk, scheduled for December 21, the heavyweight champ shared how he'd only learned the devastating news after returning home to Morecambe. However, he'd already begun to fear the worst when Paris informed him she wouldn't be able to head out to Saudi Arabia due to high blood pressure.
Speaking on Wednesday (October 23), Tyson remembered: "When she said she couldn't come over, I knew there was a problem. She usually comes out on fight week but she had high blood pressure and couldn't come. I asked her what was up and to tell me but she wouldn't. So I knew."
He added: "I knew. I knew there was a problem. I said to my brother: 'She's lost that baby'. She never told me she had lost the baby, but I knew. When I got back I got the inevitable confirmation that it was gone but she kept it to herself."
Tragic miscarriages
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parisfury1/Instagram)Sadly, this isn't the only baby loss the couple have experienced. In her 2021 book Love and Fury: The Magic and Mayhem of Life with Tyson, Paris opened up about her devastating experience of losing a child at five months and being forced to endure a stillbirth.
Paris wrote: "Following some tests and scans, we received the devastating news that the baby's heart had stopped beating. There was nothing the medical team could do. A midwife then gently broke the news to me that, although the baby was no longer alive, its advanced development meant I had no other option but to proceed with a delivery.
"Never in my life had I felt so scared and upset. All I'll say is I’d hate any other woman to experience in their lifetime what I had to endure that day. It was crushing."
She continued: "Tyson was distraught, but still managed to be my rock throughout, squeezing my hand, stroking my forehead, telling me over and over again how much he and the kids loved me. We never spoke much about the baby. It had happened, and it had been horrendous, but we both agreed to try to move forward, and stay strong for the sake of the family."
Shortly before Tyson's comeback fight against Sefer Seferi in 2018, Paris suffered another miscarriage and made the heartbreaking decision to wait until after the bout to tell her husband. Paris shared: "I was about eight weeks pregnant. Then on the day of the fight, I knew I'd lost our baby. I didn't mention it to Tyson before he went in the ring.
"Then straight after it, I told him and the next day we went to the hospital and it was confirmed. Five weeks later we fell pregnant again... We were still heartbroken over our loss, but overjoyed at the same time."
Traumatic birth story
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parisfury1/Instagram)Image:
Getty Images)In October 2021, Paris opened up about the traumatic birth of her daughter Athena, stating, "She was dying in my arms". Remembering this terrifying time in an interview with OK! magazine, Paris recalled how her then newborn daughter's 'heart was beating ridiculously fast', which caused complications, and staff at Royal Lancaster Infirmary didn't have the equipment to treat her.
The little girl was then rushed to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where she was sedated, put on incubation, and given tablets. Thinking she'd be okay, medics took Athena off the tube, but, as Paris was holding her in her arms, her breathing stopped and she became unresponsive.
Paris recounted: "They took her off me, put her on the table and resuscitated her. Tyson came running in. It was horrific. They managed to get her heart going and everything stabilised. They put her back on a tube and then found out she didn't need the heart medication any more, it had corrected itself.
"Once she got her strength back up, she came out of the hospital completely clear and fine. But I didn't sleep a wink for the first few weeks, I just stared at her. We've all decided she's going to be spoiled!"
The proud mum went into more detail about this trauma in her 2023 memoir How Does She Do It? The Kids, Tyson & Me, writing: "It was clear Athena was having the fight of her life, and that any deterioration might cause her to slip away at any moment. Suddenly she became pale, floppy and unresponsive, and I could see she'd stopped breathing."
Athena was born on August 8, 2021, and on August 20, Tyson and Paris were finally able to bring her home. Nowadays, it appears that the youngster is doing well, and this summer, she celebrated her third birthday with a 'pink party' at Stockport's Pink Island Cafe.
Full of joy on her daughter's special day, Paris shared some sweet snaps of Athena in a party dress and bow via Instagram. She captioned the post: "Happy 3rd birthday our beautiful Athena 'fairy'. After such a rough start to life, I'd never have dreamed she would be so clever, beautiful and amazing."
Supporting Tyson through dark times
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PA)Paris has previously spoken candidly about husband Tyson's mental health difficulties, with the boxer living with bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). During a 2021 appearance on Good Morning Britain, Paris explained that she'd been 'relieved' when Tyson was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2017, after having previously felt helpless when it came to dealing with his behaviour.
Bipolar disorder - formerly known as manic depression - is an illness that can lead to extreme mood swings, with patients swinging between episodes of mania and depression. During his brief period of retirement, Tyson would regularly disappear from the family home for days on end, leaving Paris distraught. Paris said: "He was crying constantly or depressed, partying, drinking for days, addiction and all these things were going on. I was pregnant at the time and those times were really hard for me."
After suffering a panic attack, Tyson finally received an official diagnosis, and it was then that the pieces started to fall into place. Paris explained: "It was a relief, it cemented it. We weren't wondering if he had something wrong. There were demons there from a young age. It made it so much easier to accept what he was going through. He's not bad or selfish because he wants to be - it was actually an illness."
However, although getting a diagnosis certainly helped, the couple still faces challenges when it comes to living with Tyson's bipolar. In a 2023 interview with inews, Paris shared: "It's not something he's conquered, but we've learned to deal with it. Getting a diagnosis was very helpful for me; it made me realise he's not just being grumpy and negative towards me and the children. But it does get to you."
'Bittersweet' sacrifices
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Manchester Evening News)Tyson has enjoyed an extraordinary career, and his high-profile job has meant he's sometimes had to miss out on important family moments. In September 2021, Paris revealed that her husband had missed out on son Prince and daughter Venezuela's First Holy Communion, as he had to fly to Las Vegas for training camp ahead of his trilogy bout with Deontay Wilder for the world title.
Taking to Instagram at the time, Paris shared a family pic of her and her children celebrating the Catholic rite of passage over a meal, remarking that Tyson's absence from the table was 'bittersweet'. Paris told followers: "Part of being the heavyweight champion, but makes it bittersweet to celebrate without dad. Part of the job, dad's missed another occasion. But we've had a nice day dad, first Holy Communion today for the two big ones."
During an October 2023 appearance on Good Morning Britain, Tyson opened up to hosts Kate Garraway and Adil Ray about how he'd even been forced to miss the birth of their seventh child, Prince Rico Paris, due to work commitments. He reflected: "Daddy has to do what Daddy has to do, you know. Bills have to be paid and things have to be sacrificed. Paris understands that when I am in camp, I can't be there at the hospital but I got to see him in the early hours of the morning when he was born, so that's all fantastic."
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