Heartbreaking story behind photo of couple taking baby home
On October 29, Scott Jenkins shared a photo to Facebook, celebrating the day he took his newborn baby home from the hospital, smiling next to his wife, Aly Jenkins.
However, Ms Jenkins wasn’t really there for the photo.
Ms Jenkins died on Sunday, October 20, after experiencing complications during labor and delivery of her and Scott’s third child, Sydney.
Aly was 30-years-old when she died, according to The Canadian Press, when her heart gave out after amniotic fluid - which is the fluid which surrounds the baby in the uterus - entered her bloodstream, which set off a rare amniotic fluid embolism.
A Go Fund Me has been set up for the family, who live in Warman, Canada.
Since Ms Jenkins’ death Mr Jenkins has been sharing updates to Facebook about newborn Sydney, who was in a critical condition following her mother’s death.
Nine days after Ms Jenkins’s death, Sydney was ready to go home and to celebrate, Mr Jenkins shared a touching post, along with a photo of him and Sydney, with Aly photoshopped in, to make it look like she was standing by her husband’s side.
“Today I left the hospital with our little miracle and our guardian angel,” Mr Jenkins wrote on Facebook.
Mr Jenkins then went on to express his gratitude to the medical staff at the hospital and for all the support he and his family had received since Aly’s death.
“I want to thank every single doctor and nurse who tried to save Aly’s life and the ones who gave Sydney life after being in critical condition to out of hospital in 9 days!” he said.
“I know Aly is working her magic from above to help little Sydney Alyssa Jenkins and all our family and friends!
“I am going to miss you so much Aly! Until we meet again, babe. I love you.”
The photo has been liked over 225,000 times and is inundated with comments from well-wishers all over the world.
The local community has rallied behind the Jenkins family, especially the curling community.
Aly was a competitive curler and although she didn’t compete this year, she regularly kept in contact with her teammates.
"She just brought so much joy to everyone around her and was always so thoughtful of all of her friends and touching base with everyone all the time," Aly’s teammate Nancy Martin told The Canadian Press.
“Aly was such a strong and determined woman in everything she did! She was so full of life, always had a joke to crack, such a compassionate woman and a true competitor on and off the ice. She loved this game we play with all her heart!” Team Anderson, Aly’s curling team wrote on Facebook.
There are between one and 12 cases of amniotic fluid embolism for every 100,000 deliveries, and the mortality rate for the mother is “very high” according to the Mayo Clinic.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter, download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play and stay up to date with the latest news with Yahoo’s daily newsletter. Sign up here.
