Ryan Sutter. Courtesy Ryan Sutter/Instagram
Back in the swing of things. Ryan Sutter returned to his job as a firefighter after taking time off to deal with various health battles over the past year.
“After two major surgeries and nearly six months, yesterday was my first day back in the firehouse,” the Bachelorette alum, 47, wrote via Instagram on Monday, January 24. “It was a good day back on the job.”
Last year, the Colorado native was diagnosed with Lyme disease and Epstein-Barr virus after battling mysterious symptoms for months. “My immune system was weakened through exposures to toxins and especially to mold,” he explained in May 2021. “[Lyme disease] seems like something that I will always have. Now I know, and I can build back my immune system to fight it off.”
Three months later, the former reality star underwent knee replacement surgery, followed by ankle replacement surgery one month after that. “Hopefully the last one for a bit,” he wrote via Instagram in September 2021 alongside a photo of his hand hooked up to an IV.
In his post on Monday, Sutter reflected on how much he enjoys working as a firefighter. “This job isn’t easy — not these days and not in this climate,” he wrote. “But it’s a tremendous opportunity, an opportunity to be challenged, to be humbled and to be taught that, despite our differences, we are all humans in this life — together in at least that much.”
His wife, Trista Sutter, supported him in the comments section, writing, “Love your perspective. Love you.”
The Dancing With the Stars alum, 49, and her husband met during the inaugural season of The Bachelorette, which aired in 2003. The couple, who tied the knot in a December 2003 ceremony that aired on TV, are the parents of son Maxwell, 14, and daughter Blakesley, 12.
When Ryan graduated from firefighter training weeks after revealing his Lyme disease diagnosis, he thanked his loved ones for helping him achieve the milestone.
“It may not have gone as I’d thought, as I’d hoped or as I’d expected,” he wrote via Instagram in June 2021. “It was not an easy year or perfect process. It was hard — intentionally so. But it’s in the books now and, with the undying support of my family, I made it — we made it!”
Trista, for her part, has been open about how her spouse’s health struggles have affected the whole family. “It’s been hard. I want him to be better,” she said during a June 2021 appearance on the “Almost Famous” podcast. “I want him to spend time with our family and make memories. When you don’t feel good, it just takes away from life.”
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