Mother Of Five Dies After Forgoing Chemo During Pregnancy, Baby Dies 14 Days After Being Born

Carrie DeKlyen died this month after forgoing chemotherapy for an aggressive form of cancer diagnosed during her pregnancy, choosing to sacrifice her life in an attempt to protect the life of her unborn baby.

Now, two weeks after baby Life was born, the newborn passed away as well.

The tragic news came from Michigan this week, with family members announcing that the newborn had died after being in the hospital since being delivered extremely premature.

“It is with great sadness and an absolutely broken heart that I tell you Life Lynn passed away last night,” family members wrote on a Facebook post (via the Denver Post). “Carrie is now rocking her baby girl. I have no explanation of why this happened, but I do know Jesus loves us and someday we will know why. The grief we feel is almost unbearable, please be praying for our family.”

Carrie DeKlyen had been diagnosed earlier this year with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. She underwent surgery that removed the tumor, but a month later Carrie found out that it had returned. Then she learned that she was eight weeks pregnant.

Carrie then had a decision. She could undergo chemotherapy that could have extended her life by 12 to 18 months on average or could forgo it and save her unborn baby. Her treatment would have greatly increased the chances of suffering a miscarriage, reports noted.

The Baby of a Mother Who Refused Chemo to Give Birth Has Died: Life Lynn DeKlyen weighed only 1… https://t.co/FNS6pAOf8A #Uncategorized pic.twitter.com/mfwnu0HIGU

— blasmolina.name (@blasmolina_name) September 21, 2017

Carrie chose the latter, earning some national media attention for her decision. Her condition continued to worsen, and in July she was rushed to the hospital in severe pain, the Washington Post reported. Carrie suffered a stroke and never regained consciousness, but doctors were able to keep the unborn baby alive.

“It’s painful,” husband Nick DeKlyen said (via the Daily Mail). “But this is what she wanted. She wanted to protect this child.”

Doctors monitored Life’s progress and became worried in late August at her progress, fearing that the baby could have died in the womb. They ended up delivering the infant at 24 weeks and five days old, putting her in an extremely preterm category, the Daily Mail reported.

Since the infant’s death, family and friends have started a GoFundMe page to raise money that would allow Nick to stay home and take care of the family’s five other children. The fundraiser has brought in has raised more than $178,000.

Family members are now planning their second funeral in just two weeks. Reports said the family planned to bury baby Life DeKlyen at the feet of her mother.

[Featured Image by kadmy/iStock]