A Tennessee mom made the heartbreaking decision to carry her dying baby to term to donate the child’s organs to others.
Krysta Davis, 23, found out when she was 18 weeks pregnant that the child she was carrying would not survive 30 minutes out of the womb. The baby, Rylei, was diagnosed with an abnormality called anencephaly, a rare condition in which an infant is missing parts of the brain or skull.
Krysta said: [2]
“It was definitely shocking. It was a huge heartbreak knowing that we’d miscarried previously and were having complications with this pregnancy. It was really hard to take in.”
The young mother was faced with a decision: Induce labor immediately, or carry little Rylei to term and donate her organs.
“[The doctor] said babies with anencephaly don’t tend to survive birth let alone cord-cutting. There was no outcome where she would be able to survive on her own for very long if at all.
We decided that even if we couldn’t bring our daughter home, no mother would have to go through what we were going through.”
Ryeli did not survive, but she amazed everyone by living for a week. She was born on Christmas Eve and died on New Year’s Eve. [1]
Krysta said:
“It’s like she was fighting to give us more time. It was amazing. She surprised everyone by being alive for that week.”
As a result of Krysta’s decision, 2 of Rylei’s heart valves will go to 2 children and need, while her lungs will be donated for research and development of anencephaly.
Rylei’s parents consider it a gift that they got to spend a full week with their precious girl.
Krysta said: [2]
“It was absolutely amazing going from knowing we were maybe gonna get 30 minutes with her at most to having a week with her was more than we could have ever expected or imagined.
We were able to fit an entire lifetime of love into that 1 week with her that wasn’t promised to begin with. She just smiled the whole time. She was such a good baby.”
Sources:
[1] Fox News
[2] People
