'True love never dies': Son shares powerful photo of parents' last moments together in ICU
A dying husband removed his breathing tube and held his wife's hand for the last time in an incredibly raw moment captured on camera by his son.
Canadian father Jim Mininni was admitted to the intensive care unit at the Kingston General Hospital in Ontario on April 28 with terminal lung cancer.
Jim requested to be seated next to his wife Cindy Ireland one last time.
Cindy was in another hospital after suffering a heart attack and lung infection after Jim was admitted to ICU.
Cindy, 58, was sedated and unconscious but doctors transferred her into her husband's room and lay them side-by-side on May 4 while they were both on life support.
At 9.45pm that same day, Jim passed away at age 58, leaving behind Cindy and her two sons.
Jim and Cindy's boys were able to capture a handful of heartbreaking but beautiful photos documenting the couple's true and enduring love.
Cindy is now back home and recovering from her heart attack, but she has the images that captured the final moments with her true love.
Their eldest son Matt Mininni, 29, was able photograph the incredibly raw moment while his brother Chris Mininni uploaded the photos to Facebook last week to honour the love his parents shared.
"True love really never dies," Chris, 21, wrote alongside the photo.
The young man told Yahoo7 that his father was not prepared to die without saying goodbye to the love of his life, to whom he was married to for 23 years.
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Speaking to Yahoo7, Chris said his father was first diagnosed with lung cancer eight years ago and was struck with the disease again another three times since.
Although their father's dying wish was beautiful, it wasn't an easy task at first.
Chris said he and his family tried to arrange a transfer for several days but they were denied three times.
It wasn't until a large tumor blocking his father's airway was found and Dr Christopher Parker - Jim's doctor throughout his entire treatment - stepped in to arrange for Cindy to be transferred that day to the same hospital.
Dr Parker told Chris and Matt that doctors would wake their father up and explain his situation while assuring him he would be next to his beloved wife.
On the night before he died, Jim pulled his tube out himself after a bad dream and the family gathered around him to say goodbye.
"Shaking, due to the medication and carbon dioxide in his blood, he managed to write 'mo' but couldn't finish the word," Chris told Yahoo7 in a message.
"It took him almost an agonizing 2 hours to write 'Mom' [sic].
When Jim found out he was going to die, Chris said he went stiff and shook his head but the minute doctors asked him if he wanted to see Cindy, he began "bawling".
"My dad lit up like a child, tears streaming down his face. He was praying: yes, yes, please, please."
After hours of preparing, a team of doctors and nurses moved Jim as he gripped the doctors hand tight in extreme gratitude.
"They kept him there as long as medically possible," Chris said.
"He passed away a mere hours after the photo, after getting to say goodbye."
Chris said the staff at Kingston General Hospital were the best "in the whole world" for allowing his parents to say goodbye.
"He would have just kept hanging on," he said, adding his father would have held on just to say goodbye to his wife.
Chris told Yahoo7 his father was his “best friend” and he feels extremely grateful to be able to share his parents’ love.
“I helped him with everything everyday, it's been really tough with him gone,” he said.
"I feel so honored to be able to share my dad.”
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