Former Pennsylvania Senator turned attorney Rick Santorum hits the Iowa trail with his supportive wife Karen Santorum just a few weeks before the Republican Caucus. Both look approachable but trustworthy in their trail gear.
Scott Olson/ Getty ImagesIt was a sad turn of events for Rick Santorum: last Tuesday, the GOP politician called off his campaign duties to be with his 3-year-old daughter, Bella, who was hospitalized with pneumonia.
“A simple cold can kill her, and it almost did,” Santorum told Glenn Beck in an interview on the former Fox News pundit’s radio show Monday. “But she was able to get great care and yesterday really made a great turn around and she will be out of the ICU today and so we are getting back to normal here.”
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Santorum, a conservative Republican who got an unexpected boost during the Iowa caucus as a runner-up to Mitt Romney, came in third behind rivals Newt Gingrich and Romney in the South Carolina primary. Following Bella’s illness and recovery, he’s returning to the race ahead of Tuesday’s showdown in Florida.
“She had a very tough go of it, but yesterday afternoon she rallied, and she’s on the mend,” added Santorum of Bella. “We are feeling very, very blessed, I just want to thank everybody for their prayers.”
Bella, who was treated at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, lives with a genetic disorder called Trisomy 18. Most children born with it die within the first year, while survivors suffer from crippling developmental issues affecting the brain, heart and other organs.
