In an inspiring testimony, New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr opened up about his recent struggles and how his faith has grown in the midst of loss, telling a crowd at ChurchLV in Las Vegas about how faith carried him through the recent burn injury his wife sustained, along with a miscarriage that their family endured.
For context, Carr spoke at ChurchLV on Sunday, April 27, 2025, sharing about how his wife, Heather, had gotten major burns across her upper body shortly after the family relocated to Fresno, California. Carr explained that his wife had a major emergency after a fire pit shot flames into her face, but that she had made a full recovery. In addition, the quarterback opened up about how, after Heather was rushed to the hospital, the family was shocked to learn that she had miscarried.
In his testimony, which was broadcast live on YouTube, Carr confirmed that he had been dealing with a shoulder injury, criticizing ESPN and other news outlets for speculating about his injury in prior coverage. Carr said, “I have an MRI report to prove it. The team knows about it. We’ve been in constant communication. There’s nothing wrong. We’re figuring it out, and we’re gonna go forward with that. ”
Continuing, Carr shared that he had poured out his frustration over the buzz surrounding his injury in prayer, saying, “I’ve been dealing with this, and I’ve been dealing with people lying about me.” He added, “And I’m like, Lord, why do I have to continue to deal with this nonsense? And I say that to preface: you never know what someone’s really going through.”
Moving forward, Carr told the crowd that during a recent vacation, he, his wife, Heather, and their four children had all gotten sick, adding that after the family got home, an accident with a fire pit left Heather badly burned. Carr explained, “It’s crazy, second-degree burns on her arm, her whole arm, her face, her neck, all this stuff. Praise God, she’s doing great. If you look at her arm, if I never told you that story, you wouldn’t even be able to know. It’s unbelievable what God has done.”
In addition, Carr said that the family’s struggles continued when Heather had to be rushed to the emergency room because she was not feeling well. Carr explained, “She had been struggling with some health stuff, and we’ve been walking through it, been going through it and praying about it and going through that together.”
Continuing, Carr explained that when he met his wife at the hospital, it was revealed that Heather had had a miscarriage. He told the crowd, “We’re thankful, we’re celebrating. All we’ve prayed is that she would be OK. But what we didn’t know, which came as a complete shock and surprise to us is that we had a miscarriage,” he added, “We didn’t know we had a baby, and now we’re hit with this and this emotional toll of, wait, we had a child?”
After this moment of vulnerability about his family’s struggles, Carr was emphatic that he believed he would see his unborn child again. He told the crowd, “I don’t just have four babies, we have five. One is in heaven. We have three little boys and a little girl, and we’ll get to meet the other one when we get to heaven someday.”
Watch Carr’s testimony: