Father With Terminal Cancer Records Video for Baby Girl: 'I Want Her to Know That Daddy Loved the Lord' (VIDEO)
March 26, 2013 was one of the greatest days of Nick Magnotti's life. His wife of four and a half years, Alyssa, gave birth to their beautiful baby girl. They named her Austyn. Five days later, the Bellevue, Wash. father went in for an agonizing chemotherapy treatment that took him over nine days to recover from.
As Austyn was born, Nick was fighting for his life against a rare form of cancer, mucinous adenocarcinoma, that was discovered after he went to the hospital with sharp pains in his abdomen six months earlier. A massive tumor had grown out of his appendix and spread throughout his abdominal cavity.
After the extremely difficult round of chemo, Nick switched to alternative naturopathic treatments, and then surgery, and then back to chemo. Nothing worked.
So, Nick accepted his fate and resolved to spend as much time as possible with his family. In November, he filmed this video so all could know his story, especially his baby girl.
"I want her to know that her daddy loved the Lord," Nick says in the video. "And that her daddy wants to help people so that she will have the same heart."
Though Alyssa dreaded the inevitable, she wrote on their blog about a faith that surpasses the fear:
It's crippling, paralyzing, to picture a world without Nick. My breath catches. My heart stops. I'm falling.
But, then… I'm caught. I remember. God loves Nick MORE than I do and I'm under no false pretenses that I know more than our Creator. God has an amazing plan for Nick's eternity. I have absolutely no doubts about that. No matter what happens. And, I overflow with an unspeakable joy when I think about Nick living a beautiful life without pain. Brings a huge goofy smile to my face.
Nick Magnotti died January 7, 2014 after battling cancer for two and a half years. He was 27, and he passed early in the morning as Alyssa and his father held his hands.
Alyssa wrote later:
Nick did not lose his fight with cancer. He won. We won. He is cancer free and he has encouraged many hearts. When he was first diagnosed, he said it would be worth all the pain if he changed just one life. I would venture to say that he has changed thousands.
Here's the video that Nick Magnotti wanted you to see. SHARE it so that others may know the story of this young father who loved his family and his Lord.