The Brody File has learned that Sen. Rick Santorum, who is seriously considering a run for president, cancelled an important trip to Iowa over the weekend because his young daughter became “very ill.” She is better now.
Isabella Maria Santorum will be three years old on May 13. She was born with with Trisomy 18, a condition where you are born with three No. 18 chromosomes, rather than the normal two. Roughly 90 percent of children with her disorder die before or during birth. In addition, if you do survive, 90 percent die within the first year. Bella is in short, a miracle baby.
When I saw that Santorum had cancelled his appearance at Saturday’s Conservative Principles Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, I inquired about it. What I’ve learned is that on Friday, Sen. Santorum had left Washington, D.C., on his way to Des Moines, Iowa.
Since it was a connecting flight, he stopped in Minneapolis. It was at the Minneapolis Airport where he decided to turn around and go back home. Virginia Davis, a spokesperson for Santorum tells me that "Senator Santorum's youngest daughter Isabella became very ill on Friday causing him to cancel his trip to Iowa. Over the weekend she improved and is now well enough for Senator Santorum to resume his planned schedule in New Hampshire"
Out of respect for the family, Virginia Davis did not go into details of what “very ill” meant. But it should be noted that even episodes like a common cold can be serious for a child affected by Trisomy 18. More about the condition here.
It should be noted that The Brody File sat down with Rick and Karen Santorum in their home just this past week as part of an upcoming story on the Santorum family. Stay tuned for video clips. At that time, we met cute and smiley Isabella, as well as some of their other children. They have eight children in all (In 1996, Gabriel died two hours after he was born).
By the way, Rick Santorum wrote about Isabella on her two year birthday. You can read more here.
Rick Santorum has always said family comes first. After all, he wrote a book about it called, “It Takes a Family.”
Well, this past weekend he showed what his main priority is considering that the event in Iowa this weekend was a pretty important one, especially for someone like Santorum who is considered an underdog in the race.
Evangelicals like to see people back up their “family values” talk with action. Sarah Palin showed that with her baby,Trig, who was born with Down Syndrome. Palin and Santorum didn’t just talk the talk. They also walked the walk. That earns you “street cred” with Evangelicals. All Santorum cares about at this point is a healthy Isabella.