A man named Stefan Shaw and his now ex-girlfriend Chelby were about to become parents for the first time. As any other couple, they couldn’t wait for the moment when they would take their child in their arms. Unfortunately, when Chelby was in the 20th week of pregnancy, the scans showed something devastating.
The fluid from the amniotic sag was gone and the baby had no kidneys. Stefan and Chelby were told that they wouldn’t be able to see their child enter this world alive and that broke their hearts.
However, despite the odds, their miracle baby Joseph was born seven weeks prematurely via a C-section.
Joseph didn’t only lack kidneys, but bowels and genitals as well. Despite all that, he was breathing. His legs were fused together and he resembled a mermaid.
“When I got to the hospital they said that from the waist down Joseph was like a fish,” Stefan said.
“I had never seen a baby like my son. He was like a mermaid, he was a unique, beautiful baby boy.”
Knowing Joseph wouldn’t make it, Stefan and Chelby wanted to give their bundle of joy “the best send-off possible,” so they organized for him to be christened at the Royal Derby Hospital.
During the ceremony, doctors had to pump air into Joseph to keep him alive.
Stefan, who is now homeless, explained how his son was in his arms when doctors took the tube off and he died peacefully.
“It was very heartbreaking and extremely hard to let go of something that meant the world to you,” the heartbroken father told Derbyshire Live.
Rest in peace, Joseph.
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