Sam's Father's Day ble 'I'VE GOT MY SARAH BACK!'

The broadcaster's busy household was thrown into turmoil when a medical emergency struck, causing the couple to re-evaluate their lives

- Fleur Guthrie

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Actually, no, corrects Sam Wallace, it was just the worst of times. When his wife Sarah was recently hospitalised with pneumonia and severe sepsis, the popular broadcaster was trying to hold the fort at home while he and son Brando, four, also recovered from influenza A. Then one of his twin daughters, Sienna, came down with chicken pox. The only ones winning were Cosette and the cat!

Now, six weeks later, as they welcome the Wee into their "full noise" home on Auckland's North Shore, Sarah is recovering well and hoping to get back to normal - "we just need these children to sleep again".

The couple, who have been together 11 years, are always refreshingly candid when it comes to the reality of parenting three under five.

In the week from hell, Sam, 42, admits being in survival mode meant he let all the kids sleep with him in bed every night and subsequently undid three years of Sarah's vigilant sleep training.

It also made him realise how Father's Day could have been so very different this year had Sarah's sepsis rapidly led to organ failure.

"We're so lucky we got the best-case scenario," he reflects. "If Sarah had stayed at home another day and we hadn't called an ambulance, she would have been in serious trouble.

"You hear of people dying of pneumonia and you're like, 'That wouldn't happen to me.' And it genuinely almost happened to us.

"When someone you love gets that sick so quickly, it gives you a wake-up call in a range of different ways. It definitely gives you a new level of appreciation for your partner," says Sam, smiling at Sarah.