There is no worse heartbreak than that of losing a child. That sort of grief doesn’t compare to any other, and unfortunately, it never fades away.
There are many people out there who are left heartbroken with the news that their children suffer from certain condition or disease and fighting the battle against those illnesses can be hard and exhausting, but as long as parents knows there is hope for their child to recover, they will never give up.
Adalynn “Addy” Sooter was just four years old when she was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a rare tumor that starts in the brain stem. Sadly, the chances were dull and the family was told to be ready for the worst.
After 18 months, Addy’s health declined rapidly as the cancer spread. Her father Matt, who started a Facebook page where he documented his little girl’s journey, wrote: “Addy’s symptoms have progressed rapidly over the past day and a half. Yesterday she woke up as her spunky playful self. While we still see short instances of our girl she can no longer eat or swallow without difficulty and she’s sleeping most of the time now and we’ve admitted her into inpatient care. Most likely she doesn’t have much time left.”
Matt also asked from family and friends to pray for their son Jackson who had a really hard time coping with his sister’s illness. “A little boy should not have to say goodbye to his partner in crime, his play mate, his best friend, his little sister,” Matt wrote.
Jackson never left his sister’s side. He stood by her until the very end. One night, just as he said goodbye to his little sister and reminded her once again how much he loved her, Addy passed away.
Devastated Mark shared the heartbreaking news on the page dedicated to Addy.
“She passed from this life to the next just as she had lived: stubbornly but also peacefully, and surrounded by family. She wasn’t in any pain at the end,” the post read. “While this is only goodbye for now we miss our baby girl terribly.”
In “hopes of saving future children from a similar fate,” the family donated Addy’s tumors, both brain and spine, to scientific research.
“Our sweet girl loved helping people and giving gifts so we thought this would be an excellent way of showing her giving heart,” they wrote in a Facebook post.
We are so very sorry for this family’s loss. Our thoughts and prayers go to them during their time of gried.