Declan Jay BugalA young mother in Aurora, Colorado, who experienced a rare but serious complication during childbirth, made the heartbreaking choice of sacrificing her life so that her newborn son might live.
World Net Daily is reporting on the story of Karisa Bugal, 34, who was in labor with her second child when doctors discovered that she had developed an amniotic fluid embolism (AFE).
A condition so rare that it only occurs in slightly more than one in 100,000 births, it is caused by the leakage of amniotic fluid, fetal cells, hair, or other debris that enters the maternal bloodstream and causes cardiorespiratory collapse. The first symptoms of the condition are sudden cardiac arrest and/or acute respiratory distress. This is why almost half of all AFE deaths occur within one hour after the first symptoms develop. Doctors do not know the cause of AFE and there is no way to prevent it.
As soon as doctors realized that Karisa had developed an AFE, they informed her of the condition and the dangers it posed to both herself and her unborn son.
"She chose to have them perform an emergency C-section so Declan could be born sacrificing her own body and ultimately her life to save his," writes family friend Kendall Tinnes who started a GoFundMe.com page for the family.
"Karisa was conscious of Declan being born just before the Doctors were forced to take her to the ICU. She simply asked "How big is he?"
Those were the last words she spoke before she passed away.
There is no doubt that without Karisa's sacrifice, her son Declan may never had a chance to live.
“Knowing the grim prognosis of this, I think it’s possible that we could have lost Declan,” said Dr. Kelly Gerow.
Karisa's life ended on November 4, 2014, just a day before her eighth wedding anniversary and her upcoming 35th birthday.
She leaves behind a husband and a toddler daughter, Mallory.
“Wes [Karisa's husband] and the kids will try to move forward missing greatly the touch and presence of Karisa in their lives," writes Tinnes. "The tasks at hand and the tasks yet to come cannot be asked of any one person. Through the pain, anger, and heartache they will need to find their way through an endless maze of questions.”
The goal of the GoFundMe page was to raise $20,000 to offset the expenses of Karisa's sudden death. Thus far, the page has raised $56,000 and is filled with sympathetic messages from around the country.
One commenter named Jeff Klinko said the mother of his son also suffered an AFE during his delivery. "She survived. I can empathize with the situation. How it goes from normal to sheer chaos in less than a minute. Still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. Thoughts and prayers are with the family and for the soul of Karisa......RIP."
But the comment of John Walters says it best of all. "No greater love . . ."
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