Couple Devastated By Stillbirth of Their Baby Find Strength in Church Family and Donating Daughter's Eyes to Someone
A couple who knew their baby did not develop fully and would die once she came out of the womb decided to carry her full term so they can donate her organs to those in need.
Keri and husband Royce Young knew five months before their baby Eva was due that she had a condition that put her chance of survival from little to nothing. But the couple decided to keep and carry her until her time is due so that they could put her organs to good use by donating them to babies who may need them, The Telegraph reported.
While the couple looked forward to the day when their child could be of help to others, they did not expect that a further blow would come.
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Keri gave birth to Eva on April 17 but she was stillborn.
At that point, their hopes of donating her organs appeared to have been dashed. Royce expressed his disappointment and sadness in a blog post.
"We had tried to do everything right, tried to think of others, tried to take every possible step to make this work, and it didn't," he wrote. "No organ donation. Not even for the failsafe research. We felt cheated. What a total rip-off. The word I still have circling in my head is disappointment."
But there was a silver lining. Laurie, from the organ procurement organization LifeShare, whom they met before Eva's birth to discuss the donation of her organs, called and told the doctors they were able to get a recipient for Eva's eyes.
"It's a weird thing to say that in probably the worst experience of my life was also maybe the best moment of my life, but it think it was the best moment of my life," he explained in his blog. "The timing of it all is just something I can't explain. It wasn't what we planned or hoped for, but it was everything we needed in that moment."
The couple found strength in their church family and joy that another person will still benefit from their daughter's eyes.
"I had latched on to kidney or liver donation, grasping to the thought Eva would directly save a life. She's not having one like I dreamed of, but she will be changing one," he added.
Throughout their journey, Keri updated people who want to hear about their story on Facebook. Support from all over the world came during their difficult time.
To show their gratefulness for Eva's life, the couple dedicated her life to their church and celebrated her short but meaningful life in a benefit party thrown in Eva's name, according to The Telegraph.
