Actor Ravi Patel has candidly shared the tragic experience of losing his daughter just five days after her birth.

In the latest episode of Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, Patel encountered the stern discipline of the directing staff (DS). Despite being admonished for speaking out of turn, Patel attempted to strike up a friendship with DS member Jason “Foxy” Fox.

During their exchange, Patel expressed, “I enjoy our conversations, staff,” as he endeavored to establish rapport before a challenging task. Fox, however, curtly replied, “I don’t … dimwit.”

This blunt response likely didn’t catch Patel off guard. Reflecting before the selection process began, he remarked in a confessional, “The DS, they don’t appreciate humor, especially sarcasm. So, this is going to go really well for me.”

Recognizing humor as his “defense mechanism,” Patel humorously acknowledged, “I’d love for them to like me, but I think they’re gonna hate me.”

Assuming he wasn’t taking the course seriously, the DS called Patel in for questioning in the mirror room, where recruits are known to show their vulnerable sides. It was during that conversation that he revealed the hardest thing he’s ever had to go through.

“We lost a daughter five days after she was born a couple of years ago, and that was the worst time in my life,” Patel said. “It was awful.”

“My daughter, who was six at the time, [was] distraught. Everyone was a mess,” he added, explaining that his older daughter’s school was across the street from the hospital where the baby, named Saachi, was staying.

“We got the results back that her brain had been … that we may need to make a hard choice,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Alright, I want my daughter to meet her.’ I went across the street and got my daughter. We hung out together with Saachi, cried together, all that stuff. It was hard.”

What happened to Ravi Patel’s baby?

In an Instagram post announcing the passing of his daughter in February 2023, Patel revealed that she had suffered from meconium aspiration. According to the Cleveland Clinic, meconium is a sticky substance that becomes a baby’s first poop. While it typically passes within 48 hours after birth, there are some cases in which it will pass during labor, putting the baby at risk of inhaling the tar-like substance.

If meconium is inhaled by the baby, it can “block or irritate” their airways or “damage lung tissue.” Per the outlet, meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) can cause respiratory issues, and in rare cases like Patel’s daughter, can be life-threatening.