Alfonso Ribeiro is celebrating his “brave” daughter Ava’s 4th birthday following the little girl’s scary scooter accident. The Dancing With the Stars host took to Instagram Tuesday to share photos from Ava’s Tangled-themed birthday party, showing off the 4-year-old’s glowing smile despite the abrasions on her face and arm.
“Happy Birthday to my sweet Ava Sue. As some of you know Ava had a very difficult week,” Ribeiro wrote in the caption. “I’m so proud of how well she handled everything. She’s so brave strong and creative. I love everything about my little girl.” Ribeiro went on to thank his wife Angela for being “so amazing” during this tough time, through “long nights with a little girl in pain and having to apply medication every few hours.” The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air actor, who also shares sons AJ, 9, and Anders, 8, with his wife and is also father to 20-year-old daughter Sienna, concluded his emotional post by praising Ava and Angela as his “two [heroes].”
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Ribeiro previously detailed his daughter’s grisly accident during his Tuesday appearance on Live With Kelly and Mark, revealing that Ava had to be hospitalized the day before her birthday. “On Thursday, unfortunately, my daughter got injured and had to have emergency surgery,” Ribeiro told hosts Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos. “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.” When it comes to Ava’s recovery, the America’s Funniest Home Videos host said, “It’s going to be a long process.”
Ribeiro also shared that his wife had a bad feeling something was going to happen to their youngest child before Ava’s accident. “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,’” he said.
While Angela’s instructions “obviously” weren’t listened to, Ava went on a “little sit-down scooter” while the nanny ran back into the house to get her safety equipment. “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.”
“That was very specific but all mothers have that intuition,” he continued. “You carry this soul around in your body for nine months; there is a connection that men can never understand that women have with their babies. And she felt something that unfortunately everyone didn’t abide by that information.”
