Australian model Erin McNaught offered a major update on her son Obi after he was diagnosed with a brain tumor.
“It’s 1 month today since Obi had surgery to remove a massive brain tumor that he was only diagnosed with a few days prior,” McNaught, 43, captioned an Instagram post on Monday, July 14.
The model reflected on the day she and partner Stasi Kotaras “woke early” and went to the hospital for Obi’s surgery.
“I stayed for a little while longer, trying to deal with what was about to happen,” she continued. “I stood on the balcony and watched the sunrise and sobbed so hard I couldn’t breathe. The thought that this sunrise might be the last one we saw with him still here on this earth was unbearable.”
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McNaught said that after their 8-month-old son “made it through the surgery,” she and Kotaras “returned to the balcony and watched the sunset and we cried again together.”
She went on to say that their son has “blown us away” with his recovery.
“Day by day, achieving more and more. We still don’t know what his future holds, but then again no one ever does. For now, we are filled with joy, and happiness, and a deep sense of gratitude,” McNaught’s caption concluded. “We hold him close, and we hold our big boys, and we marvel at our little family, and how lucky we are. And we love each other the hardest.”
The model announced the birth of Obi in October 2024.
“Welcome home ‘Mr. Obi Brooks Kotaras,’” she shared via Instagram at the time. “We can’t believe how perfect you are and both feel so overwhelmed with pure joy.”
McNaught is also the mother of sons Evander, 10, and Ennio, 7, whom she shares with ex-husband Elliot Gleave (otherwise known by his stage name, Example).
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Last month, McNaught shared Obi’s brain tumor diagnosis with her Instagram followers.
“For the last few weeks we have noticed a rapid decline in Obi’s behavior and happiness. He was having problems eating, sleeping and most recently, keeping his head straight,” she captioned the post. “Late on Tuesday, as a precaution we took our little man in for an MRI under instruction from our Doctor. At about 6:00pm Tuesday night we met with a neurosurgeon who broke the heartbreaking news that Obi has a large brain tumor on the right side of his brain.”
McNaught thanked the “incredible” team at Queensland Children’s Hospital.
“We are absolutely shattered and the last few days have been our hardest days,” she continued. “We have a long and difficult road ahead [of] us but are so lucky to have our family and friends’ support at this time and we’re keeping focused on getting our little boy back.”