What Happened To Thomas Boone Quaid? All About The Son Of Dennis Quaid

Thomas Boone Quaid is the son of actor Dennis Quaid and his ex-wife, Kimberly Buffington. Thomas’ father, as an actor is known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. Some of his notable credits include Breaking Away, Dragonheart, Vantage Point, and The Intruder.

The Quaid twins are quite famous, they made headline news days right after their birth when they developed staph infections and were admitted to the hospital. During the stay, the newborn, however, nearly died from an accidental overdose of a blood-thinning drug, Heparin.

Quaid and Kimberly’s son, Thomas is one of their twin children who along with his womb mate went through the first few weeks of his life battling a gruesome condition.

Dennis maintains it is by far the scariest period of his life. Know extended details explaining why his son, Thomas, and daughter, Zoe Grace needed Heparin in the first place, did they recover from it, how are they doing now, and more in the write-up below.

Thomas Boone Quaid Birth Details; Was Born Via Surrogacy

Thomas Boone, the son of Dennis Quaid and his second wife, Kimberly Quaid was born on 8 November 2007 in Santa Monica, California, at St. John’s Health Center.

As mentioned he is the fraternal twin brother of Zoe Grace Quaid. Both were born via a surrogate on November 8, 2007.

Thomas and his sister were born through a gestational carrier. The former arrived at 8:26 a.m. and weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces. Zoe, on the other hand, weighed 5 pounds, 9 ounces, and arrived two minutes later than her brother.

Why Did Thomas Boone Quaid And His Sister Need Heparin? 

Ten days after Thomas and Zoe were born, the twins contracted staph infections. Doctors told Dennis and Kimberly to take their newborns to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Their celebrity parents quickly admitted them to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where they were given antibiotics intravenously.

At the hospital, however, both the infants reportedly received 10,000 units of Heparin blood thinner (twice!), instead of the 10 units prescribed — an overdose that nearly cost the kids their lives.

Their father, Dennis later told the Los Angeles Times, no one called him or Buffington about the accident that made it impossible for their two babies’ blood to clot.

It was not until they returned to the hospital to visit the twins the next day that they found out about this traumatic turn of events.

“Our kids could have been dying, and we wouldn’t have been able to come down to the hospital to say goodbye,”

the Vantage Point actor explained.

After Receiving Heparin Thomas And His Sister Started To Bleed Profusely

Later when the Quaids finally saw their babies, Kimberly said they were black and blue. She added her kids were bleeding out.

The overdose apparently turned Thomas and his sister’s blood to the consistency of water, their actor father revealed in an interview. Quaid further said his twins, Thomas and Zoe were bleeding from every place the doctors punctured them.

He said the adult dose – 1,000 times stronger than the pediatric dose – caused his twins to hemorrhage uncontrollably.

Boone’s belly button reportedly would not stop bleeding and his blood squirted across the room. They were just 11 days old.

Fortunately, Thomas and his sister overcame the life-and-death ordeal. Dennis later reported Thomas and Zoe took about 41 hours from the first overdose to reaching stabilization.

The infants spent 11 days in intensive care before making a full recovery. Thomas’ father ascribes the moment as the most frightening time of his life.

Of the medical scare, Dennis, in 2015, told People

“You go to a dark place. But you gotta pull yourself away from that, you gotta remain optimistic. But everything turned out okay. We had a happy ending.”

After The Recovery, Thomas Boone Quaid Father Sued A Heparin Company; Received Quite A Money 

Once Dennis’ twins Thomas and Zoe recovered from the accidental overdose of the blood thinner Heparin, the Dragonheart actor, and his then-wife, Kimberly Buffington sued Baxter Healthcare Corp., the maker of the medication.

Quaid and his ex-partner sued Baxter because it did not issue a recall of the vials after three premature babies died two years ago in a similar hospital overdose in Indiana.

They accused the company of failing to recall the drug after other infants died earlier due to poorly labeled vials that spawned, said medical mix-ups.

Thomas Boone’s parents also settled with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for $750,000 after the mistakes from their staff nearly killed their newborns. The California Department of Public Health also ordered the hospital to pay a fine worth $25,000.

Thomas Quaid’s father while talking to Theo Von and Matthew Cole Weiss’ podcast said, in addition to an apology to all the families impacted, Cedars-Sinai vastly improved its protocol to ensure such deadly scares never happen again.

Thomas’ Mother, Kimberly Knew About The Overdose Before It Even Happened

Apparently, the night the twins received the incorrect dose, Kimberly recalls she had a “premonition” something was wrong after she and Dennis returned from visiting the hospitalized babies at Cedars-Sinai.

Hospital staffers, though, had assured them the twins were recovering well from the staph infections and told the new parents to go home. Kimberly says, she, nonetheless, suddenly felt so anxious that Dennis called the hospital.

The Quaids say, they heard everything was fine but when they arrived at the hospital the next morning, they learned of the overdoses.

What Led To Thomas Boone Quaid And His Sister’s Overdose?

Quaid claimed that Cedars-Sinai hospital personnel missed five crucial checks. This ultimately led to the twins’ heparin overdose. In fact, Dennis believes his twins’ first overdose occurred while he and Kimberly were in the hospital room.

The Texas-born actor added the nurse, who came in to change the medication didn’t bother to inform him and his ex-wife, Kimberly. State regulators reported the medical errors began the morning of Nov. 18 when two pharmacy technicians mistakenly delivered 100 vials of heparin to the pediatric unit.

Thomas Overdose Later Helped Save Many Infants’ Lives 

While Thomas and his sister almost faced a tragic death due to some medical mistakes, when recovered they went on to become a driving factor in saving a lot of infants’ lives.

Mr. Quaid reported after the miracle, the hospital really stepped up and instituted a lot of patient safety that was very cutting edge and led the way with that.

Post the Heparin issue, Thomas’ father, Dennis has become a ‘’health activist” and along with his ex-wife founded The Quaid Foundation — thequaidfoundation.org. The organization is for helping minimize the kind of medical mistakes in hospitals that befell their newborn twins.

Ever since the recovery Quaids have also been on a fact-finding mission to discover why medical mistakes happen so frequently and what can be done.

In an interview, the twins’ actor father explained although this “was the most frightening time of [their] lives,” they felt the strong need to “step up for it” to guarantee that no other children or parents would ever have to endure what his own kids went through.

How Are Thomas Boone Quaid And His Sister Doing Today? 

Years after the horrific incident, Quaid said that, while he went “to a dark place,” he and then-wife Kimberly Buffington remained optimistic, and ultimately, the whole family “had a happy ending.”

While doctors weren’t sure whether the accidental Heparin overdose would have lasting effects on Thomas and Zoe, their father revealed that, years later, his kids were not just surviving — they were thriving.

“They’re perfectly normal as could be now. They’re like the head of their class,”

Quaid told Theo Von and Matthew Cole Weiss’ podcast Allegedly (per People) in 2015.

He added his kids’ health happens to be the one factor that gives him the most peace. Quaid also revealed his favorite time is actually when he’s in the car taking Thomas and Zoe to school.

With all their happy pictures all over Dennis’ other son, Jack’s Instagram one could say Quaid’s twins are ‘perfectly normal.’

Thomas Half-Brother Is Also An Actor 

In addition to Zoe, Thomas Boone Quaid also has an elder half-brother, 29-year-old Jack, who was born through Dennis’ marriage to his ex-wife and actress Meg Ryan.

Jack, similar to his father is an actor who is known for playing Hughie Campbell in the Amazon Prime series, The Boys.

In addition, he has been in the 2012 blockbuster Hunger Games and HBO’s Vinyl.

His Half-Brother Is Rich: What Is His Net Worth? 

While Thomas’ half-brother, Jack’s exact net worth is unclear, most outlets seem to put him with a net worth of about $2 million.

That, however, pales in comparison to his father’s Dennis wealth which stands at around $30 million, and his mother, Ryan who has amassed a fortune of $85 million from decades of her acting career.

Further, Dennis in early 2020 said his income had drastically increased in the past year. Worth mentioning is in the documents, Quaid says he also has $21 million in the owned property.

Jack may not be worth as much as his famous folks, he, nonetheless certainly seems to be on the right path with his current work on The Boys receiving critical and commercial success.

Thomas Boone Quaid Parents; His Father’s Wives

Thomas Boone’s parents, Dennis and Kimberly tied the knot in July 2004. Thomas’ mom, Kimberly is a real estate agent. After the marriage, she and her former partner, Quaid welcomed two children through a gestational carrier. The kids are Thomas and Zoe.

Thomas’ parents the Footloose actor and Kimberly would first separate in 2012, which was 5 years after the birth of Thomas and his twin sister. Kimberly though later withdrew her petition but again seek divorce from the G.I. Joe star in 2016.

Thomas’ father responded to her divorce filing in February 2018 and the court finalized their divorce in April that year. Dennis and Kimberly have joint Custody of Thomas and his sister.

Before Kimberly, Thomas’ old man was married to his first wife, P. J. Soles, from 1978 to 1983. He was then the husband of actress Meg Ryan. Together, they welcomed a son, Jack. Quaid though would also separate from Ryan in 2001.

These days, Thomas’ father is married to his fourth and much younger wife, Laura Savoie, with whom he exchanged vows in 2020. Dennis’ current partner Laura Savoie is a University of Texas Ph.D. student and a businesswoman.