For 45 minutes, Mark Aulger held his newborn daughter named Savannah. That photo of that moment is the one that the now nearly nine-year-old Savannah has with her father, who slipped into a coma the day after her birth and left his life just a few days later. It was unexpected devastation to a family that had been given renewed hope just a month earlier.
In December 2011, Mark Aulger, 52, learned that after eight months of chemotherapy, he was c.a.n.c.e.r-free. His wife, Diane Aulger was pregnant with their fifth child and Christmas that year was full of joy. However, the new year brought heartbreaking news when on January 3, 2012, Mark was admitted to the hospital and he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis – a result of chemotherapy.
Diane told ABC News: “We thought he could get on steroid treatment and oxygen and live for years,” . But that wasn’t the case. By January 16th, it became obvious that the treatments weren’t working, so Mark was given just one week to live.
Diane said: “He was awake and alert, himself. I really didn’t believe the doctor,” .
“The next day his doctor came in and said: ‘When are you going to have this baby?’”
Diane and her doctors made the decision to induce labor two weeks early to ensure that her husband and daughter would get to meet at least one time. On January 18, with Mark in a bed nearby, Diane gave birth to baby Savannah.
Diane added: “The day she was born his oxygen levels were really high,” .
“He held her for 45 minutes. Him and I just cried the whole time.”
The following day, Mark attempted to hold his daughter again, but after only a minute, he could no longer hold on. This man went into a coma.
Diane explained “If she cried, he would shake his head and moan,” . “I put her on him when he was in a the coma a few times and his hand would move toward her”.
On January 23, Mark breathed his last. His memory lives on with his children who still tell jokes and laugh just as he had always done with them.
Huffington Post reported when the news broke about Mark’s family, support and donations began to flood in for the family. They received baby supplies, cards, a donation that allowed them to buy a minivan, and thousands of dollars, which helped the family to be able to pick up the pieces of their broken hearts and move forward.
Diane continued: “I’ve received some other cards from perfect strangers with, you know, $100 or $200. That was shocking enough,”
“But enough money to get myself a minivan was – I’m shocked still.”
In spite of all of the challenges Diane faced with the birth of her baby girl and the loss of her husband within the same week, this mother had hope because of the fact that the community rallied around her. Supporting women and their children is how hearts and minds will finally turn away from a.b.o.r.t.i.o.n. It’s obvious Mark loved his baby girl, even before she was born, for Diane to go to such an extent to make sure he could hold her and see her if only one time before he went to his last resting.
Source: https://www.opoja.net/mother-delivered-two-weeks-early-so-dying-husband-could-meet-his-baby-girl/
