One of the great offensive weapons of the San Francisco 49ers is George Kittle, considered one of the best tight ends in the NFL and a key player for the Niners’ success.
A couple of days ago, Kittle and his wife Claire made an announcement to the world, through their social media, in which they made it known that in January they went through a devastating event for any couple: the loss of a child.
Through Instagram, Claire posted an extensive explanation in which she points out that during last Christmas they confirmed that they were expecting their first baby. Days later, on January 10, they learned that the pregnancy was ectopic… and they lost their son to a miscarriage.
They broke the news on Valentine’s Day
The post in which they shared the news was published on February 14. Claire reveals how excited they were to find out they were going to be dads, and how it was that she found out four days before the game against the Seattle Seahawks that she was at risk.
“The nurse who was giving me the ultrasound was quiet for a while and I asked her, ‘It’s still early, there’s probably nothing to see, right?’ She replied, ‘I see a pregnancy here, it’s just not in the right place, it’s ectopic.’ I felt like my soul was leaving my body,” she expressed.
“The point of sharing this is not out of pity, but to acknowledge something extremely personal, hard and emotional that has taken place in our life. Just talking about it because I felt alone when I got the news, I had never met anyone who had had an ectopic pregnancy. So here is my direct line to you, I have had one, you are not alone. It sucks, it’s hard, be strong,” she wrote.
They give a lesson in resilience days later
But neither George nor Claire were overcome by the news. Three days after she had surgery and lost her son, George played against Seattle, though he had just two receptions for 37 yards.
A week later, against the Dallas Cowboys, George had 9 catches for 95 yards and was a key player in helping the Niners advance to the NFC championship, which they ended up losing to the Philadelphia Eagles.
For her part, Claire, who has over 117K followers on IG, continued to forge ahead, posting as she usually does and recently accompanying her husband to the NFL Honors ceremony, where they looked happy as a couple and where he even sang, making it one of the best moments of the ceremony.
As a closing of the post, Claire and George gave a resilience class with several phrases, one in particular: “I do know God gives us exactly what we need when we need it”.
