Hoda Kotb is grateful for the progress. After her youngest daughter Hope, 3, was hospitalized earlier this year, she opened up about how things are going as the tot continues to recover. “She’s doing better. There’s still a long road to go, but she’s doing much better,” she told Page Six on Monday, May 15 at the Webby Awards. “We’re making great progress. This kid is full of healing light, as I say to her.”
Holda told the outlet how she has coped with the enormous stress of the health issue her daughter experienced. “It is a lot, but I have a good group with me helping me, and I think I’ve learned to, like, sometimes you gotta roll with it,” she said. “You gotta trust and kind of surrender, and that’s kind of how I’ve been going through it. But she’s doing a great job.”
Though she admitted her “priorities have always been both girls,” she also said the incident helped her regain perspective. “It does remind you when you get lost in a minute, it’s like, ‘Wait, I was worried about what? That mattered because of why?’” she said. “So I’ve learned to sort of realize that there are things in life that are much, much, much more important than the little things.”
Hoda’s two week leave of absence from the Today Show in mid-February was keenly felt by fans and by co-host Jenna Bush Hager. She later revealed the leave of absence, which was followed by another spring break hiatus to spend time with Hope and her older daughter Haley, 6, was due to a health scare for the youngest. She returned to the show on March 6, finally offering up an explanation on the “family health issue” that had kept her away.
“My youngest, Hope, was in the ICU for a few days and in the hospital for a little more than a week,” she said. “I’m grateful she’s home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come. We are watching her closely. I’m just so happy.”
In April, Hoda shared how Hope’s ordeal had mad her realize how strong her daughter is. “To watch her go through a difficult time at just three years old is really tough for any parent because you’re helpless,” she said during an April 25 appearance on the Southern Living’s Biscuits And Gravy podcast. “But I think you realize just how incredibly resilient and strong she is. I think sometimes you learn life’s lessons from the most amazing places.”