Their world goes around when parents welcome their baby into the world. But, this couple faced the hardest part of their lives following that happiest time. Their baby's heart had to be transplanted, they had to take the help of crowdfunding, and see their baby die. But, what happened next will take your breath away.
When Mindy was 20 weeks pregnant, their son was told to be having a damaged heart. Shortly after his birth, baby Lincoln needed an open-heart surgery to place a shunt there, that would keep him alive.
But, he outgrew his shunt when he was 3 months old.
And the parents had to hear what they might have never imagined, their son needed to undergo a transplant.
The dad stepped up then.
"If there was ever a time for me to step up as dad and husband, that was the time." Rob took the decision to leave behind his home and job, and shift nearer to Seattle Children's hospital.
He summoned the strength to endure it himself.
"I refused to let my family suffer. I made sure that every action I made was intentionally directed towards giving them the support they needed."
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Rob did it so Mindy would take care of herself and Lincoln
He did all the shopping, cooking, cleaning, laundry, and got the other boys enrolled in school. He even went to the extent of making sure his kids had fun in Seattle, although the reason behind relocation was miserable.
He wanted his son to be emotionally stable, too.
"I made sure to ask them questions about their feelings concerning Lincoln. I didn't want anything bottled up. They needed to know they could talk to me about anything", said Rob.
After 2 cardiac arrests, Lincoln was about to receive his new heart.
But, as he was being prepared for the transplant, his heart stopped and he died. The doctors at once opened up his heart and manually compressed it, successfully connecting him to a bypass machine. What could take up to 2 hours, was done in 12 minutes.
And Lincoln was back, fresh and new.
"I could not imagine getting through this without Rob's support. He gives his all to our family and he often sacrifices his own needs to take care of ours", said Mindy. To which, Rob responded, "This is what I'm supposed to do."
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