VIDEO Mother induces labor so that dying father can hold his daughter

Sometimes stories come around that are so life affirming they demand to be posted. Such is the case with the Aulger family from Texas.

Diane Aulger was around two weeks away from her expected delivery date when she and her husband, Mark Aulger, made a hard decision that there was no time to wait. You see, Mark Aulger had been told that he only had days to live and he wanted to see and hold his baby girl.

Mark had been diagnosed with Colon cancer in April and the doctors went about aggressively attempting to cure him by not only having surgery but going through the painful process of 6 months of chemotherapy. At first, it appeared as if his treatment had been a success as tests revealed no signs of cancer. Then in November Mark noticed that he was having difficulty breathing. Come January, he was sick enough that he was taken to the emergency room and it was at this time that he and his wife received troubling news.

Doctors informed them that because of his treatment he had developed pulmonary fibrosis but at first they thought this would be yet another setback and that after a few days on an oxygen tank Mark would be able to move on. Tragically this wasn’t the case when just two weeks later the doctors informed them that his condition was fatal. When Diane asked how long they estimated that he had to live they informed her only 6 days.

^Diane and baby Savannah Aulger

After getting that horrible news, Mark confided to his wife that he wanted to hold his little baby. Diane had planned a natural birth but when the doctors suggested inducing labor she agreed instantly. In addition to her dying husband’s wish she was already experiencing pre-labor symptoms.

The staff arranged for their beds to be side-by-side and following the birth of little Savannah, her daddy was the first to hold her and did so for 45 minutes. The next two days he had become so weak he was only able to hold her for a couple of minutes or so. He slipped into a coma just 3 days after his daughter was born and passed away just 2 after that.

Here is a video report filed by ABC News:

Here’s what I believe. Those 45 minutes will make a difference in Savannah’s life.  That connection, that physical expression of love by a daddy getting to hold his little girl is a strong and life-lasting bond.

The Aulgers have two older children and they’re doing the best they can to cope with their father’s passing and to celebrate his life.

Diane said:

“We’re living day-to-day as if dad’s still here. We know dad is here with us. They talk to dad. Mark was a very funny, funny dad.”

This one is for baby Savannah and her family. Thank you for sharing your story and inspiring us to remember how precious life really is: