Sadly, there was no such happy ending for DeSantis’ younger sister Christina, who was hospitalized in London with a blood clot in 2015 and developed a pulmonary embolism that killed her at just 30 years old.

He’s never spoken publicly about it, and teared up as he recalled:

“It was just a shattering experience. I remember my mom calling me, my wife and I were on our way back from church on a Sunday morning, and she said that Christina was in the hospital and she had a blood clot but was stable.”

“She was in the hospital for a couple of days and then had the embolism and died and I just didn’t think that was even possible at that point because I thought that she was stable. You have your sibling, their future was robbed and it’s something I wish I could get back. I know she probably would have moved back to Florida.”