Ava was our hero from the day she was born (10 weeks early!). She spent nearly 8 weeks in the NICU, and for the next 6 months was the absolute best baby we could have hoped for. She started sleeping through the night at 3 months old and was, by all accounts, a perfectly healthy little girl. The pandemic offered us the opportunity to keep her home with us while we went back to work and it was the happiest we had ever been. She loved laughed non-stop at the antics of her puppy siblings. At 10 months old, Ava unexpectedly suffered a brain hemorrhage due to the rupture of a large embryonal, metastatic tumor located on her brain stem and spinal cord. The bleed rendered her paralyzed from the neck down with limited organ function, but she remained awake and very aware. The size and location of the tumor made it inoperable, and she was much too young for radiation therapy. She spent 12 days in the PICU under round the clock care before passing away in 2020. Ava’s Gift of Life donation was her kidneys, which were fully functional. We are so proud of our little peanut and know that it was her strength that has helped us through this incredibly difficult time. God bless all the babies suffering from cancer or illness of any kind and the parents, caregivers, and medical staff watching over them.
