We Miss You, Adaleigh

Adaleigh Elizabeth
August 11, 2005 - December 4, 2009

Missing you today, and everyday!

When Adaleigh died, her parents made the decision to donate her organs to help save other parents the agony of losing their baby. 


One of the recipients was a little girl named Katie, the same age age as Adaleigh, who is featured on the organ donation brochure found here. We've been lucky enough to meet her and she is a beautiful, sweet little girl. While nothing can take away the pain of losing Ada, seeing Katie has been a source of comfort. Katie is a bright, happy, thankful little girl, and you only have to look at her parents faces to know that while their hearts ache for our loss, they are so grateful that Adaleigh's parents made the decision to donate her organs. 

Adaleigh

I debated on what to post today. Today is a hard day for my family. My little niece died two years ago, at the age of 4. Technically, her date of death is December 4th. But for me, December 2nd is the day things changed, the day I got that terrible phone call that told me she had been rushed to the hospital. 

Adaleigh had woken during the night screaming and pulling at her hair. She could not be consoled. By the time the paramedics arrived, it was clear that Adaleigh was having seizures. She was taken to a local hospital. When they could not stop the seizures, they did a CAT scan and discovered that she was bleeding in her brain. She was transferred to Children's Hospital, where an emergency surgery to relieve pressure on her brain was performed. But it was too late. 

When my brother told me that the doctors said the bleeding in Adaleigh's brain was caused by an arteriovenous malformation (AVM), I remember wondering why it was Adaleigh and not me. I also have an AVM in my brain. AVM's are found in less than 1% of the population, so it seemed somewhat surreal for two people in one family to be diagnosed with AVM's. I felt heartbroken for my brother, and wished I could swap places with Adaleigh. To me, it seemed unfair that my AVM was fine, while Adaleigh's had ruptured after only 4 short years. 

I will never understand why little children die.


We love you and miss you, sweet baby Adaleigh.