- Amy Schumer said Sunday her 3-year-old son Gene was hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus.
- The comedian shared that Gene was rushed to the ER two days before she hosted "Saturday Night Live."
Amy Schumer said her 3-year-old son was hospitalized with respiratory syncytial virus just two days before she hosted "Saturday Night Live" this week.
The comedian shared an Instagram post Sunday about the ordeal, writing in the caption that she missed Thursday rehearsals for the show because her son, Gene, was rushed to the emergency room. He was admitted for respiratory syncytial virus, a common respiratory illness that has filled hospitals with pediatric patients in the last few weeks.
Schumer called the week leading up to her hosting gig the "hardest" of her life but thanked NBC for their support leading up to the show. She also shared some behind-the-scenes photos from her time at "SNL" and gave an update on her son's health.
"I got to be with him the whole day at the hospital and the beautiful humans at @nbcsnl couldn't have been more supportive. My son is home and better," she wrote. The reason this show is so fun to do isn't actually the performance or the show itself. It's getting to spend time with the people there."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that most people recover from RSV in a week or two but the virus can be serious for infants and older adults. Doctors told Insider that while the illness is typically restricted to the winter months, this wave of RSV began in early summer and became severe in recent weeks.
One mother, Ashleigh Steen, also spoke to Insider about her and her three-week-old baby's experience with RSV. Steen said late last month that her daughter was admitted to a Delaware hospital with the virus after the child began struggling to breathe. The hospital's pediatric intensive care unit and ER were already full of RSV cases, so Steen's baby was intubated and put on a ventilator in the newborn intensive care unit.
"It's by far the most stressful situation I've ever been in, because I'm so scared for my daughter," Steen said. "I know she's getting the best possible care — it has just been hard to see such slow improvement."