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Dad’s heartbreaking note to wife carrying baby for organ donation

In this world, there are some good people. And then, there are some people who are so amazingly incredible and utterly selfless that when you hear about their story, you immediately feel slightly ashamed about your first world problems and life-whining.

Keri Young is one of those people, and her husband Royce wants the whole world to know it.

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In a Facebook post that is both heartbreaking and unbelievably inspiring at the same time, Royce reveals how he and his wife were devastated to find out their unborn daughter Eva suffers from Anencephaly, a birth defect that means she is missing her brain and won’t live more than a few hours or days after birth.

Royce's candid post about he and his wife's struggle has struck a chord with thousands of people. Photo: Facebook/ryoung
Royce's candid post about he and his wife's struggle has struck a chord with thousands of people. Photo: Facebook/ryoung

“Literally 30 seconds after our doctor told us our baby doesn't have a brain, somehow through full body ugly crying, Keri looked up and asked, ‘If I carry her full term, can we donate her organs?’” Royce writes.

“There I was, crestfallen and heartbroken, but I momentarily got lifted out of the moment and just stood in awe of her. I was a spectator to my own life, watching a superhero find her superpowers. In literally the worst moment of her life, finding out her baby was going to die, it took her less than a minute to think of someone else and how her selflessness could help.”

The couple who have a son, Harrison, were devastated to hear the fate of their unborn daughter, Eva. Photo: Instagram/royceyoung
The couple who have a son, Harrison, were devastated to hear the fate of their unborn daughter, Eva. Photo: Instagram/royceyoung

For Royce and Keri who have been together 15 years and have a two-year-old son Harrison, the news was devastating.

Yet through it all, Royce has been utterly in awe of his wife as she’s endured every pregnancy milestone, knowing that she won’t be able to watch her baby girl grow up at the end of it.

“Keri has been in the trenches the entire time, feeling every little kick, every hiccup and every roll. She's reminded every moment of every day that she's carrying a baby that will die. Her back hurts. Her feet are sore. She's got all the super fun pregnant stuff going on,” writes Royce.

“But the light at the end of her nine-month tunnel will turn into a darkness she's never felt before a couple hours or days after Eva is born. She's the one that is going to deal with all that comes with having a baby- her milk coming in, the recovery process, etc, but with no snuggly, soft, beautiful newborn to look at to remind you that it was all worth it.”

Seen here with her bump, Keri's selflessness has seen her dedicated to carrying Eva to term for organ donation. Photo: Facebook/keridyoung
Seen here with her bump, Keri's selflessness has seen her dedicated to carrying Eva to term for organ donation. Photo: Facebook/keridyoung

With Keri now at 28 weeks, the Oklahoma-based couple only have a few more weeks before they get to meet their beautiful daughter – for however long they have her.

“We made our choice to carry Eva to full term for a lot of reasons, but the first and foremost was to donate her organs,” explains Royce.

Royce's admiration for Keri has seen him pen an incredibly moving letter telling the world about their family's journey. Photo: Instagram/royceyoung
Royce's admiration for Keri has seen him pen an incredibly moving letter telling the world about their family's journey. Photo: Instagram/royceyoung

"We don't say that to try and sound like great people or anything. It was just a practical endgame that in our minds.”

For sports journalist Royce, it’s forever changed the way he looks at his awe-inspiring wife.

“I'm looking at Keri right now and I don't even have to ask. She's TOUGH. She's BRAVE. She's incredible. She's remarkable. She's cut from a different cloth, combining wit, beauty, courage, silliness, character and integrity into one spectacular woman. And somehow, she's my wife. Not that I needed some awful situation like this to actually see all of that, but what it did was make me want to tell everyone else about it.”

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