Cory Wharton is opening up about every parent's worst fear.
The MTV star, who has survived literal fire and a torn ACL on The Challenge, says nothing compares to watching his 3-year-old daughter Maya battle plastic bronchitis during a three-week hospital stay in Dallas. "It was a nightmare," he told E! News in an exclusive interview.
Maya has lived with a rare congenital heart defect requiring multiple open-heart surgeries. She took a sudden turn for the worse while Wharton was filming in Thailand. "I was actually filming a project out in Thailand," he revealed. "And it took me 32 hours just to fly to see her. The first time seeing her in five weeks, she was on a ventilator. So it was just surreal."
The 35-year-old was devastated by the medical mystery. "There's still a lot of questions on why she formed plastic bronchitis and how these casts were growing in her lungs," he explained. "It's scary because there's not a definite answer right now." Doctors warned him to watch for purple-tinted lips—a sign of dangerous complications.
When Maya left the hospital, she improved rapidly. "The minute we left the hospital, she instantly, like, started improving at a rapid rate," Wharton said. She went from silent and scared to her "goofy self," chatting away.
The trauma also brought Wharton and Taylor Selfridge closer together. They share daughters Maya and 6-year-old Mila and have been navigating a rocky relationship. "Trauma bonding—it is a real thing," he acknowledged. "Three weeks of being together, nonstop, going through that situation, just knowing that we both want what's best for Maya."
Wharton says his daughter is "at home right now living her best life."
