Monday Night Football alum Lisa Guerrero may have left her sports reporting days behind — she's now an investigative journalist for Inside Edition — but there's one moment from her time on the NFL sidelines that she won't soon forget. In her new memoir, Warrior, the 58-year-old reveals that she suffered a miscarriage while on air in 2003. And though all she wanted to do at the time was escape to a nearby bathroom, live TV waits for no one — and the show had to go on.
Lisa was about eight to 12 weeks along in her pregnancy at the time
As she described in her book, during the first half of the game she was covering, she experienced an intensifying pain in her abdomen. She tried to push through but soon felt "a dampness" between her legs. Realizing that it was likely she was suffering a miscarriage, she told her assistant she was going to the officials' bathroom in the tunnel. "He looked at me as if I were insane. 'They're about to throw to you,'" Lisa — who is married to retired MLB pitcher Scott Erickson — recounted in her book (via People).
Lisa had no choice but to soldier on
She delivered her live report like the true pro she is, but she was feeling absolutely awful. "I was dizzy and nauseated but reminded myself to stand up straight. The pain was excruciating. I heard myself mispronounce a player's name and knew I'd hear about it later," she wrote.
When she was finally able to get to a bathroom, she was shocked at how bad the situation was. "As I sat on the toilet, I couldn't believe the blood pouring out of me. It had soaked through my pants," she recalled.
She said it never occurred to her to tell anyone, seek medical care, or — at the very least — sit out the game
"The only thought that crossed my mind was that I could get through the rest of the game as long as I buttoned up my long winter coat. That way, no one would see the blood," she explained. "It was as if I were on autopilot. Get back on the sideline. Interview the coach."
After the game, she headed straight for the plane that would take her home, where she changed into a new outfit and stuffed her soiled clothes into a garbage can in the bathroom. "I looked into the mirror and didn't recognize the pale, gaunt, scared, and so very tired woman who stared back at me," she wrote.
Twenty years later, Lisa said she still carries the pain of that day with her
But at the time, she chose to stuff down her emotions and keep silent because she didn't want to deal with the criticism and pity. She was already having a difficult time on the job, due to the behavior of her executive producer at the time, Freddie Gaudelli, who Lisa said shook her confidence by frequently launching angry verbal tirades at her and criticizing her clothes, her posture, her script-writing, and more.
"People who knew what was going on with [my boss] Freddie and who read how I was being treated in the media already looked at me with such pity," she explained. "I was a shell of myself. And I felt such shame and embarrassment that the last thing I was going to say is, 'Oh, and by the way, I just had a miscarriage.' Most of my best friends will learn about it by reading the book."
Despite her heartbreak, Lisa said she felt it was important to share her story
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, she explained that she shared the raw and unflinching details of her 2003 miscarriage to help other women feel less alone. "I [wrote about it] in the hopes of letting women know that it's okay to share these experiences, and to open up discussions on abuse, harassment, and bullying, and the sometimes tragic consequences," she said. "I write openly about many of the obstacles I faced personally and professionally along my path to being brave."
To learn more about Lisa's life and her colorful journalism career, pick up her book, which is set to be released on January 24.
