“Hasn’t Seen Sunlight in 18 Days”: Ex-LPGA Pro Shares Daughter’s Vulnerable Health Update

Back in November 2023, Jane Park said that she lives each day now as if she’s trying to stretch the last few moments of daylight out of an evening nine. And her routine now involves stretching out the snuggles for an extra 15 minutes before putting Grace to bed. Such has been the heartbreaking journey of her daughter’s health. Now, a new case of pneumonia makes her battle even harder.

“G is in a good mood most of the day. Respiratory wise she’s doing well. Poor thing hasn’t seen sunlight in 18 days,” Jane Park shared the update on her Instagram story as she cuddled her daughter Grace in the hospital.

In the picture, Grace wore a blue gown and cartoon pajamas with white bandages wrapped around her head, and a breathing tube taped to her face. She lay comfortably in her mother’s embrace, who shared that they were playing a very long and hard waiting game now.

Doctors are using a special medicine called Midazolam to stop the seizures in Grace’s brain. Soon enough, they will lessen the dose of the medicine to see if the scary seizures come back again. And while that happens, Jane is sitting with her breath held because the medicine is not safe for long-term usage.

“Wouldn’t it be cool if this midazolam drip acted as a complete reboot and it ctrl alt deletes a lot of the seizure activity? I won’t say ‘all the activity’ bc that would just be downright selfish and a miracle. I am accepting the fact that they will return soon,” Park wrote.

This long and painful journey started during a golf tournament in Texas back in July 2021. Grace was only ten months old when a sudden fever turned into refractory epilepsy, and the infant suffered huge seizures and brain swelling that caused permanent and severe damage. Almost immediately, Park left her golf career to become a full-time nurse to her only child.

And the journey has been turbulent, with the situation becoming much worse during the first week of January when Grace suffered over 200 seizures in just 24 hours in front of Jane’s eyes, who had never seen her daughter have that many seizures in four years. Doctors had to use a strong sedative drip to keep her body still and safe.

Before this, a dangerous case of pneumonia arrived just before New Year’s Eve to make things even harder. Grace had to wear a special BiPAP mask to force air into her struggling lungs. Doctors placed a PICC line in her arm to give her fluids and calorie-dense food. This left her mother extremely worried because an infection in that line could mean the worst of the worst.

“Anyway, we are still here in the hospital doing a slow wean bc everything with epilepsy medication is an experiment that no one knows the answer to. Which is kind of hilarious,” Jane shared before thanking ‘Auntie snugs’ AKA Helen Godfrey. Helen Godfrey, the sister of Park’s husband, quit her job in the U.K. to come help the family throughout this whole journey.

And just like that, the family stays strong because they are not walking alone on this path.

A global family, the LPGA world rallies around Jane Park

Watching a friend suffer is hard, but the LPGA family knows how to carry each other. This group of golfers is more like a traveling bunch of sisters who share everything. When Jane’s world stopped in 2021, her friends did not walk away or forget her. They stepped in and helped her family breathe. This support is the only thing that keeps the Godfrey-Park family moving forward.

Imago

Jane received the Heather Farr Perseverance Award in 2023 because she never gives up on her little girl, Grace. She told the crowd that this trauma changed her DNA and how she views life. The ‘Saving Grace’ charity event and a GoFundMe page raised over $120,000 for medical costs. Anne van Dam raised money for Grace by racing in a half Ironman.

Megan Khang often visits Jane to bring some laughter and light into the quiet hospital rooms. She jokes that Jane is her future self and says the former pro truly inspires her. Tiffany Joh has been her best friend since they were both only 13 years old. These women drop by Jane’s home in Georgia to shower the family with love and snacks. They make sure Jane knows she is never forgotten, even far from the greens.

In 2023, Jane made a special return to golf at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. She played with her old friend Paula Creamer while Pete Godfrey carried her bags. It was not a real comeback, but a way to rewrite the ending of her story. Grace was there outside the ropes to cheer for her favorite person in the world.

The retired pro also found a new passion in painting to help her find some peace. She learned how to use paint by watching simple videos on her iPad at home. Jane sold beautiful paintings of Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus to help the Epilepsy Foundation. This hobby lets her brain shut off the worry and focus on beautiful colors. It is a quiet time she shares with Grace while the little girl watches videos.