For krista davis pregnancy was not easy. The then 23 year old had already suffered a miscarriage and had some trouble with pregnancy with her daughter, riley arcadia diane lovett, but at 18 weeks doctors gave her and her boyfriend derek lovett 26 devastating news. Riley had anencephaly a rare condition where a baby is missing certain parts of their scholar, brain they didn’t expect riley to live more than half an hour after birth. It was definitely shocking. It was a huge heartbreak knowing that we miscarried previously and were having complications with this pregnancy.
It was really hard to take in said davis of cleveland tennessee davis had two options. She could induce labor right away or carry the baby to turn and donate the organs both seemed daunting, but davis showed incredible strength through it. All the doctors said, babies with anencephaly don’t tend to survive birth, let alone cord cutting. There was no outcome where she would be able to survive on her own for very long. If, at all, she said, we decided that even if we couldn’t bring our daughter home, no mother would have to go through what we were going to go through.
The couple didn’t need much time to make their decision. We talked it out. David said we knew that’s what we wanted to do, so she carried riley to term at 40 weeks in 2 days. The couple planned to enjoy every moment with their baby. We were going to cherish what time we had with her davis said.
I knew we would have time after to grieve and to be sad davis delivered riley. On christmas eve. She came out stargazing she was born face up. She said it was the most overwhelming feeling of love that i’ve ever felt in my life laying eyes on her. I never knew that.
I could love someone so much. It was insane. Although davis was prepared to lose her baby right away, riley wasn’t ready to leave the world just yet. She survived an entire week despite her health issues, and she was the happiest baby. Her mother had ever seen.
Davis and lovett stayed with her in the hospital until she passed away on new year’s eve. It was absolutely amazing going from knowing we were maybe gon na get 30 minutes with her at most to having a week with her. It was more than we could ever have expected or imagined davis said we were able to fit an entire lifetime of love into that one week with her that wasn’t promised to begin with. She just smiled the whole time she was such a good baby. Riley didn’t cry during the week of her life until her last day when her oxygen levels lowered she let out a small whale.
It’S like she was fighting to give us more time. It was amazing, said her mom. She surprised everyone by being alive for that week. Afterward riley’s lungs were donated to a research hospital and her heart valves went to two children in need. It’S been really hard coming to terms with the fact that she’s really gone, but it’s also been a great month that we’ve got to share her story, said davis.
It’S helped a lot to be able to help other women in our situation and hear their stories. It warms our hearts to know that riley’s life will give two other babies a second chance at life. They hope their baby will live on through the people. She has saved. Fortunately, the parents got to learn more about these people.
They told us after six months we would get to inquire about who received them. Davis said we’re super excited. It’S amazing that our little girl is going to live on davis, shared her story on the facebook page, riley arcadia an unexpected journey, and on december 24 2021 she wrote a post celebrating what would have been riley’s third birthday. I can’t believe it’s already been three whole years since the first time i held this tiny little human three years since you took your first breath, i’m so thankful for the time i had with you, but what i wouldn’t give to see you now happy birthday, precious Girl dawn masarek, the coordinator of hospital development with tennessee donor services thanked not only the couple but also the doctor for introducing the idea early in the diagnosis. Thankfully riley was not the only person who saved some lives to their organs.
A 41 year old man named cletus schneider, sadly passed away, and since he and his wife kerry had talked about donating his organs. If something like that happened, she knew that it was just what cletus would have wanted as a way to thank and honor him and his family for such a selfless act. More than 150 people, including nurses, family friends and people who wanted to share their gratitude lying through a hallway and stayed silent. While cletus was taken to the operation room with his donation, he contributed with the lives of at least 50 other people. The images and videos of the honor walk were shared on social media and became viral in no time.
