To make her husband’s last wish come true, one woman from Texas decided to deliver their baby two weeks earlier so he could meet his daughter

Welcoming a new life, and preparing for a newborn to enrich the home is an incredible experience. However, one Texas couple did not have the opportunity to feel the joy that it brings.

Back in 2012, Diane Aulger from The Colony, Texas, deliberately gave birth to her fifth child two weeks earlier.

The reason?

She wanted to give her husband, Mark, a chance to meet his baby girl before he passed away. At the age of 52, Mark was diagnosed with colon cancer in April, the previous year.

The doctors performed surgery to remove the cancer, and then he underwent preventative chemotherapy for six months, which, as it turned out, caused severe damage to his lungs.

In November, he started having trouble breathing, and by January, he was hospitalized. He then learned that the chemotherapy had caused pulmonary fibrosis.

Pulmonary fibrosis is a disease of the lungs in which the lung tissue becomes thickened and stiff as a result of damage and scarring, and it can lead to critical breathing problems.

The damage cannot be reversed, and in most cases, patients are treated with medications and therapy. The negative effects of chemotherapy are a result of the fact that it affects all active cells in the body, both, the damaged and healthy cells.

In many cases, it results in stomach pain, muscle pain, headaches, and nerve damage.

Even though the side-effects may differ according to the type of chemotherapy, there are chances that the patient might experience long-term side effects, which include permanent damage to the lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, or reproductive system, as well as memory and concentration issues.

The family initially believed in Mark’s recovery, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Just as Diane was getting ready to deliver their fifth child, on January 16, Marks’s situation quickly started to aggravate.

They found out that it would not get better, the fatal outcome could not be avoided, and it was estimated that Mark had only five or six days left to live.

Diane recounted:

“He was awake and alert, himself. I really didn’t believe the doctor [at first]. The next day his doctor came in and said: ‘When are you going to have this baby?'”

Mark’s last wish was to see his baby before leaving this world, so Diane was scheduled to be induced on January 18.

The initial date of the baby’s birth was supposed to be Jan. 29, and she had planned to deliver naturally, but when her doctor suggested the other option, she had no further doubts about it.

The personnel from the hospital were kind enough to arrange for the Aulgers to share a large labor and delivery room, and Diane explained that they had side-by-side beds.

Mark got to hold his girl, named Savannah, for 45 minutes on the day she was born.

His wife remembered:

“The day she was born his oxygen levels were really high. He held her for 45 minutes. Him and I just cried that whole time.”

He felt so fatigued, that in the next few days he could only hold her for a minute or so at once, before he fell into a coma on January 21.

Diane said:

“If she cried, he would shake his head and moan. I put her on him when he was in the coma a few times and his hand would move toward her.”

Two days later, he passed away. The night before he fell into a coma, Diane brought her newborn home- she explained- and she and her daughter were the ones by his side at the time of his death.

Mark left behind his two children with Diane, and Diane’s two older children. After he passed away, the Aulger’s home was blasted with gifts. They received donations in food, clothing, diapers, and financial help from friends, family, and even complete strangers, to support the single mother of five.

After learning about the story, one Californian businessman donated money so Diane could buy a minivan. Diane Aulger stated that it makes her feel nice knowing that there are many people out there who really care.

The family tries very hard to keep the memory of Mark alive. Diane said she wants to put pictures of him everywhere inside the house, and the kids are constantly talking about their funny father.

She said:

“We’re living day-to-day as if dad’s still here. We know dad is here with us.

 Mark was a very funny guy. My kids still tell jokes how they would when he was around. He would have been a wonderful daddy to Savannah.”

Source: abcnews.go.com