Kelly Stafford, the wife of Georgia great and Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, announced Wednesday that she will undergo surgery for a brain tumor discovered earlier this year.
The former University of Georgia cheerleader announced the diagnosis in a lengthy post on Instagram. She explained the process of what she and her husband went through, from her starting to feel dizzy to eventually getting the diagnosis from doctors.
After bouts of vertigo in January, a Lions’ team doctor recommended an MRI. The results showed she had an acoustic neuroma, which is a benign tumor, on her cranial nerves.
Stafford, who said the prospect of brain surgery left her “completely terrified,” asked for prayers for herself and her family.
“Please pray for Matthew as I know his nerves will be high during this surgery. I couldn’t imagine being out in that waiting room,” she wrote.
Both Kelly and Matthew have been active in the Detroit area since Matthew Stafford was drafted by the Lions with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft. They have three children: Sawyer and Chandler, twin girls born in 2017, and a third daughter, Hunter, born last August.
