Terminally Ill Husband Meets His Newborn Daughter After Wife Induces Labour Two Weeks Early

Dec 17, 2019 by apost team

It was 31-year-old Diane Aulger’s worst nightmare. While she should have been relieved that her husband Mark, 52, had survived surgery to excise a cancerous growth on his colon, she was devastated to hear that his lungs had been irrevocably scarred from the following chemotherapy.

Mark was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and the doctors said his condition was fatal. Her husband only had five or six days left to live. 

In 2012, just two weeks before Diana and Mark's fifth child was due,  the family was hit with the tragic news that the dad only had days to live. After 8 months of chemotherapy to battle cancer, doctors diagnosed him with pulmonary fibrosis which came as a result of the chemo. 

"We thought he could get on steroid treatment and oxygen and live for years," Diane Aulger told ABC news.

On January 12, 2012, however, doctors told Mark the treatment was not helping and he only had one week left to live. 

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

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On January 18th, 2012, Diane’s labor was induced and she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl in a hospital bed pulled up next to her husband’s. Afterward, baby Savannah was placed in her father’s arms and he held her for 45 minutes until his strength began to fail him.

"The day she was born his oxygen levels were really high," Aulger told the outlet. "He held her for 45 minutes. Him and I just cried that whole time."

Mark would slip into a coma three days after Savannah’s birth and die shortly thereafter. Diane remembers placing Savannah on his chest and how Mark’s hand would move towards his daughter while in the coma. It would appear a father’s love knows no bounds. 

"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," Aulger said.

Mark Aulger passed away in his hospital bed on January 23rd with his family by his side. Despite the tragedy, his family still keeps his memory alive. 

"The kids go on as if dad is really still here," Diane Aulger said. "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."

Would you make the same choice as Diane if faced with this impossible situation? Do you applaud her actions to ensure father and daughter had time together, if only fleeting, or do you think Diane should have waited to give birth to her child? Let us know in the comments and be sure to spread the word about this heartbreaking story!