Mark Aulger’s cancer treatment was failing, and, with doctors estimating that he only had several days to live, his wife Diane Aulger decided to have their child induced two weeks before her due date, allowing Mark to see his child before he passed away.
On January 18, Diane Aulger gave birth to a baby daughter named Savannah, and five days later Mark passed away.
According to Diane, when her husband saw his daughter, he “cried, and he just looked very sad.”
The 52-year-old father from Texas learned of his colon cancer in April, and, while surgery and chemotherapy seemed to be working, tests in November showed increased signs of cancer after he developed trouble breathing. By January 3, Mark was in the emergency room and had developed pulmonary fibrosis from his chemotherapy treatments.
By January 16, doctors told Mark that his condition was fatal and that he had five or six days to live to which Mark responded “I’d like to see the baby.”
While Diane had planned a natural childbirth for January 29, her doctor made the suggestion that they induce to give the father a chance to see and hold his daughter since Diane was already experiencing pre-labor symptoms.
Realizing Mark wanted to be at the birth of his child hospital staff arranged for a large private room where Mark could lay in a bed next to his wife as their daughter was born.
After Savannah was born, Mark held her for forty-five minutes; he was then only able to hold her for a few minutes at a time in the following days as his strength weakened.
On January 21, Mark slipped into a coma and then died two days later.
Mark is survived by two other children with Diane, ages 10 and 7. Diane also has a 15-year-old and 13-year-old.
References
Texas woman has labor induced so husband dying of complications from chemo can see daughter:
http://www.newser.com/article/d9ssf4f80/texas-woman-has-labor-induced-so-husband-dying-of-complications-from-chemo-can-see-daughter.html
Image Credits
Vernix on a Newborn’s Feet: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vernix_feet.jpg
