The family of Jim Kelly is asking for prayers.
In a July 10 statement, the Buffalo Bills legend and his wife, Jill, wrote that their older daughter, Erin, and her husband, Parker Bean, welcomed their first child, a son, earlier that week.
“While this is a time of deep joy for the family, it has also come with unexpected medical complications” for the baby, they said, referring to him as “Little Bean.”
The complications were not described but will be shared “when the time feels right,” the statement reads.
Follow-up posts on Instagram indicate that the infant had a successful surgical procedure and was breathing on his own after being on a ventilator.
“This is a huge answer to prayer, and we are so thankful for the progress he’s made,” the Kellys wrote. “AMAZING!!”
However, on July 25 they posted: “We wish this update looked different. We had hoped for better days — but the last few have been some of the hardest.“Little Bean struggled too much when they tried to wean him off the medication, so he’s now back on it with increased oxygen to help him. … We are weary. So weary that even praying has felt hard. But we know that when we can’t find the words… the prayers of others can carry us.So please don’t stop praying. We desperately need you to lift us up.”
Jim and Jill Kelly announced in February that they were going to be grandparents for the first time.
“We finally get to share the amazing news…we’re going to be GRANDPARENTS (Insert crying and overwhelming joy and excitement!),” they wrote on Instagram. “Our firstborn is having her firstborn!!! We love you so much already little baby Bean. God is AMAZING!”
The family, which already has faced tremendous loss and adversity — first with the death of Hunter Kelly at age 8 to Krabbe disease and then as Jim Kelly battled life-threatening oral cancer — wrote on Instagram amid this current crisis:
“I know we’re not the only ones going through a heart wrenching situation right now. Life and what we hope it to be can drastically change in an instant and we just want you to know that we’re sharing this because we want to remind you too, that YOU ARE NOT ALONE.”
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments and has an interest in retail news. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on X @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Jim Kelly’s family asks for prayers amid newborn grandson’s health struggles
Reporting by Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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