David Duchovny Had Trouble 'Reattaching' to Daughter After 'Nightmare' RSV Experience: 'We Could Lose Her'

David Duchovny is remembering a difficult moment in his daughter's life.

On Wednesday, May 8, the X Files actor, 63, appeared on an episode of SiriusXM's Let's Talk Off Camera with Kelly Ripa, opening up about his relationship with his daughter West, now 25, whom he shares with ex Téa Leoni, 58. The former couple is also parents to Kyd, 21.

Duchovny recalled a scary situation West found herself in when she was only 9 months old, prompting him to think about what his life would be like without her.

"When my daughter West was 9 months old, she got RSV, which kind of was in the news again a couple years ago," the actor says of the respiratory virus, which infects the lungs and breathing passages.

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"I'd never heard of it until my daughter got it and it's very dangerous for infants and she went into the hospital and she had, nobody knew what it was," Duchovny remembers. "They thought maybe she had meningitis. She was non-responsive."

"They gave her a spinal tap. It was really horrifying and this was her first cold, if you can remember as a parent, that first cold," he adds.

When Ripa says that it sounded like a "nightmare," Duchovny agrees.

"But this was truly a nightmare because we really thought we could lose her and I was working on The X-Files at the time and Téa was staying in the hospital with West and I would go and visit after work for a few hours and then I'd go home and I remember being in the shower and just thinking, I started to try to acclimate myself to a world without her," he continues.

"This is a real possibility. I've got to think about it and I realized I would never get over it. Not that I couldn't live, but just that life would, as it says in the book, it would have no meaning or joy," Duchovny shares.

"I would go on, but I'd be a shell of something and West was fine. She was fine and I realized as a father, I had troubles shortly after that. I don't know if the word is reattaching, but accepting her back in. I was so terrified."

In 2019, Leoni attended the 14th Annual UNICEF Snowflake Ball in New York City with both West and Kyd.

All three were smiling as they posed for photographers, with the proud mom standing between her kids in a black gown with elbow-length sleeves, a velvet skirt, and a sparkly bodice. She wore her hair down and accessorized her look with a black clutch, coordinating shawl, diamond broach and matching jewelry.

West picked up on her mom’s shine, wearing a cap-sleeve silver sparkling gown. Kyd opted for a classic black tuxedo — though he gave the suit some personality with a patterned bowtie and a black Chuck Taylor sneakers.