Every now and then a story comes by that people are unable to describe properly. I do not mean it is not able to be told, but a story that sufficient words don’t exist to fully describe the story and the details involved. The Prayers for Shane Facebook page is one such story.
I have heard it described as amazing, tragic, cute, awesome, courageous, blessed, inspiring, sad, and the list goes on. Since first hearing about it right up until today I still haven’t worked how I would describe it.
In case you don’t know about it here is the background.
Earlier this year Jenna and Dan Healy, of Philadelphia, discovered that they were pregnant with their first child. Unfortunately they also discovered that their baby had a complex neural defect, anencephaly, that kills most infants soon after their birth, sometimes hours, sometimes days.
Jenna and Dan decided to name their baby Shane and for him to experience as much as he could while still in the womb. The couple decided to put together a bucket list, taking Shane on adventures and to some of their favorite childhood places before he was born. He also met the Philadelphia Phillies, went to the top of the Empire State Building in New York City and shared a cheesesteak with his parents.
The adventures and photos were all then posted on the Prayers for Shane Facebook page. It now has more than 850,000 followers.
Baby Shane was born this morning. But sadly as expected Shane died not long after. This story has brought tears to my eyes but also immense hope, joy and amazement. How these parents could have done this in the midst of such impending grief.
So why did they do it?
I will let them explain from a post about a month ago and the Facebook post from this morning:
“Most families wait until their baby is born to start making memories and travelling to places with them. “We understood what it was and knew that our time with our son could be very limited, so we wanted to make the most of the time that we had with him, we wanted to make sure that we gave him a lifetime worth of adventures and love while he’s with us. “He’s still our little boy.”
“Today at 6:15AM, after meeting his entire family and being baptized into the Catholic faith, baby Shane died peacefully in his Mother’s arms .. we are so grateful for the time that we were blessed to hold and hug our son .. the support and prayers we have received from all of you have been amazing and we want to thank each of you with all our hearts .. Shane spent his entire life in the arms of people that loved him unconditionally and I don’t think you could ask for a more beautiful life then that .. he is home now with the Lord and will forever be our little miracle!”
