Alfonso Ribeiro Gives Update on 4-Year-Old Daughter After 'Scary' Scooter Accident
Alfonso Ribeiro's 4-year-old daughter is "doing great" after being rushed into emergency surgery after falling off her scooter in May. The Dancing With the Stars host assured PEOPLE that Ava was "recovering wonderfully" after the terrifying accident that occurred the day before her fourth birthday.
"Scary times, scary moments, but she's doing great," said Ribeiro, who added, "The progress is coming along as we expected. It's a long, long process. But she's doing wonderful." The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor "wasn't standing there" when Ava fell off her sit-down scooter, but knew when he saw her injuries that the little girl needed to receive professional help: "Our nanny was there so we missed that, but she came in and – obviously – it was immediate that I knew that we were taking her to a doctor," he said.
While it will take "months" for Ava to heal all the way from her injuries, the little girl isn't slowing down for anything. "She's still moving around," Ribeiro explained. "It's technically healed, but it's a big old scar so you want that to slowly work its way away and that's what we're working on. ...It's just on its exterior. So it's nothing that serious – but to your baby it's a big deal to you."
Ribeiro previously opened up about his family's big scare on Live With Kelly and Mark. "On Thursday, unfortunately, my daughter got injured and had to have emergency surgery," the America's Funniest Home Videos host told hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos at the time. "So it was a very stressful weekend. She fell and had basically road rash on her face and arm, and so they had to scalpel off all the skin."
Ribeiro also shared that his wife Angela had a premonition that something was going to happen to Ava. "The hard part of it is that my wife really listens to her intuitions and she actually on Thursday bought everyone into the kitchen and told everyone, 'I have a feeling my daughter is going to the ER this week. Do not let her do anything that she can get hurt doing,'" recalled the actor, who also shares sons AJ, 9, and Anders, 8, with his wife and is father to 20-year-old daughter Sienna from a previous relationship. "How long has your wife been a psychic?," asked Ripa, to which Ribeiro responded, "Unfortunately, most of her life. She very rarely gets things wrong and sees things coming. You don't always listen to that feeling, and I think that all mothers have that beautiful intuition."