Mother Delivers Two Weeks Early So Her Husband Could Meet His Baby Daughter Before He Left His Life

Mark Aulger held Savannah, his newborn daughter, for 45 minutes. Savannah, who is nearly nine years old, has a photo of her father, who went into a coma the day after she was born and died just a few days later. It was a shocking blow to a family that had been offered new hope only a month before.

Mark Aulger, 52, discovered in December 2011 that he was c.a.n.c.e.r-free after eight months of treatment. His wife, Diane Aulger, was expecting their fifth child at the time, and Christmas that year was a joyous occasion. The new year, however, brought terrible news when Mark was taken to the hospital on January 3, 2012, and he was diagnosed with lung fibrosis as a result of treatment.

“We assumed he could get on steroid therapy and oxygen and survive for years,” Diane told ABC News. That, however, was not the case. By the 16th of January, it was clear that the therapies were failing, and Mark was given only one week to live.

“He was up and aware, himself,” Diane added. “I didn’t believe the doctor at all,” says the patient.

“His doctor came in the next day and said, ‘When are you going to have this baby?'”

Diane and her physicians decided to induce birth two weeks early to give her husband and daughter the opportunity to meet at least once. Diane gave birth to baby Savannah on January 18, with Mark nearby in a bed.

“His oxygen levels were extraordinarily high the day she was born,” Diane remarked.

“For 45 minutes, he held her.” “All he and I did was cry the entire time.”

Mark attempted to hold his daughter again the next day, but after barely a minute, he was unable to do so. This individual fell into a coma.

Diane elaborated. “If she sobbed, he’d shake his head and lament,” says the author. “I laid her on him a couple times when he was in a coma, and his hand would move toward her.”

Mark died on the 23rd of January. His legacy lives on in his children, who continue to make jokes and laugh with them in the same manner dad did with them.

When the news of Mark’s family surfaced, sympathy and gifts poured in, according to the Huffington Post. They got baby items, cards, a contribution that enabled them to purchase a minivan, and thousands of cash, all of which assisted the family in picking up the pieces of their shattered hearts and moving forward.

Despite the difficulties Diane encountered as a result of the birth of her baby daughter and the loss of her husband in the same week, she had optimism since her community rallied behind her. Supporting women and their children is the only way to finally move hearts and minds away from abortion. Diane went to such lengths to ensure Mark could touch and see his newborn child, even if it was just once before he went to his final resting place, demonstrating how much he loved her even before she was born.