On the morning of November 10, 2008, Theresa Fuavai-Fatu called her doctor from Sacramento and said she was having trouble breathing. She was 40 years old, 29 weeks pregnant with twins, and her obstetrician told her to come straight to Mercy General Hospital. Her heart stopped not long after she arrived. A surgeon cut both twins from her body without anaesthesia, without time to sterilise his instruments. As the incision was being closed, she opened her eyes.
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Theresa Fuavai-Fatu: Who She Is
Theresa Fuavai-Fatu is the wife of Sam Fatu, a retired professional wrestler who spent 36 years in the business. She and Sam are of Samoan descent and have lived in Sacramento, California, for decades. Born around 1967 or 1968, she is in her late 50s as of June 2026.
She has given no public interviews and has no social media presence. What is known about her comes from the Sacramento Bee’s reporting on the 2008 hospital event and from statements her family has made since.
| Full name | Theresa Fuavai-Fatu |
| Born | Approximately 1967–68 |
| Husband | Sam Fatu |
| Descent | Samoan |
| Based in | Sacramento, California |
What Happened on November 10, 2008
When Theresa called Dr. Sarchisian that morning, he told her to come into Mercy General Hospital rather than wait. She was 40, carrying twins, and shortness of breath in that situation needed immediate attention. Sam Fatu was in the labour room with her when her heart stopped.
Dr. Sarchisian performed an emergency perimortem caesarean section in the hospital bed. There was no time to sterilise the instruments or administer anaesthesia. Both twins were delivered while Theresa had no pulse. When Dr. Sarchisian began closing the incision, her pulse came back at 11:35 a.m., ten minutes after CPR had begun.
The cardiac surgeon in the room, Dr. Stephen Rossiter, had spent nearly four decades in that specialty. He told the Sacramento Bee he had seen other obstetricians attempt perimortem caesarean sections before, cutting children from mothers with no heartbeat as a last resort, and had never once seen the mother or the children come through. Both the twins and Theresa did.
Marley, a son, and Myracle, a daughter, were transferred to the NICU at Mercy San Juan Medical Center. Theresa recovered at Mercy General. The chronic high blood pressure that had contributed to the event left her with a thickened heart muscle, a condition that requires long-term care.
Six weeks later, with the twins still in the neonatal unit and Christmas a few days away, Sam spoke to the Sacramento Bee from the hospital ward. He wiped his eyes and, when he could speak, said: “My Christmas is my wife and my two babies. They are my walking Christmas tree.”
Sam Fatu: The Wrestler at Her Side
Sam Fatu was born on October 11, 1965, in San Francisco. He trained under the Wild Samoans, Afa and Sika Anoa’i, and debuted in the WWF in 1983 as The Tonga Kid, later performing in WCW as The Samoan Savage. He retired in 2019 after 36 years in the business.
Sam is the twin brother of WWE Hall of Famer Rikishi. His brother Eddie, known in WWE as Umaga, died in December 2009, thirteen months after Theresa’s cardiac event. The family is part of the Anoa’i wrestling line, which produced Roman Reigns, The Usos, and Solo Sikoa.
Journey, Marley, Myracle, and Jacob: The Fatu Children
Sam and Theresa have three children together. Their eldest, Journey Fatu, was born around 1996 and has worked as a professional wrestler on the California independent circuit. Their twins, Marley Fatu and Myracle Fatu, were born on November 10, 2008, the same morning Theresa went into cardiac arrest at Mercy General Hospital.
Sam also has a son, Jacob Fatu, born April 18, 1992, in Sacramento. Jacob has publicly spoken of both Sam and Theresa as his parents.
Jacob Fatu, WrestleMania 41, and the Parents in the Stands
Jacob Fatu signed with WWE in 2024 after completing a record 819-day run as MLW World Heavyweight Champion. He debuted on SmackDown in June 2024 as part of The Bloodline under Solo Sikoa.
On April 19, 2025, Jacob defeated LA Knight at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas to win the WWE United States Championship, his first singles title in the company. Speaking on the Club 520 Podcast after the match, he said: “It was very special just to definitely have my son over here, Johnny Fatu, shouts to the family. But definitely for my parents to pull up.”
Both his parents made the trip to Allegiant Stadium that night.
In 2026, Jacob stepped into WWE’s main event. He challenged Roman Reigns for the World Heavyweight Championship at Backlash in May and again in a Tribal Combat match at WWE Clash in Italy. On Raw this past Monday, he acknowledged Reigns and joined the OG Bloodline.
She was 40 on the morning her heart stopped in that Sacramento delivery room, and no one present expected her to leave it. She is in her late 50s now, living in Sacramento, a grandmother through Jacob’s seven children. Marley and Myracle are 17. Dr. Rossiter said he had never, in nearly 40 years of cardiac surgery, seen that outcome. He still has not, save for one November morning when she opened her eyes.
