Father Forced To Choose To Save Life of Baby or Wife, She Dies as Child Takes 1st Breath
Today, a Sophie’s choice essentially means an impossibly difficult dilemma with no clear answer.
That is exactly that kind of choice which a Littleton, Colorado, father and husband had to make. On Nov. 30, Frederick Connie went to check on his wife, Keyvonne.
Keyvonne was due to give birth in January. But when Frederick saw her on that day, he beheld a scene full of horror.
Keyvonne had begun to hemorrhage and to hemorrhage badly.
“I’m like, ‘Are you OK?’ And I see blood everywhere,” he told KDVR.
Frederick rushed her to the hospital, but rather than soothe his worries, the physicians offered him a terrible choice.
“It was either give her the surgery first and maybe save her life, but you’re going to lose your daughter,” he said. “Or your daughter can be saved, but there’s a chance you might lose your wife.”
That’s the kind of dilemma you’d probably want to mull over for weeks before making a decision. Frederick, though, had mere moments.
He decided to have the doctors try to deliver the baby first. It was the choice he believed that Keyvonne would’ve preferred.
“I’m glad I made that decision because, in the end, if Keyvonne probably could have survived, she would have hated me for the rest of my life because I knew how she felt about kids,” he said. That day, Angelique Keyvonne Connie, nicknamed “Pooder,” entered the world.
“I gave her her mom’s name. She’s going to know her mom. I’ll make sure of that,” Frederick said.
Keyvonne Connie went into early labor and her husband Frederick Connie had to make a quick decision to save his baby girl or save his wife. He chose his daughter and his wife died soon after giving birth. His boss started a fundraiser. Please help him. https://t.co/UwkgcDB40C
— Mad World (@MadddWWWorld) December 5, 2018
Amazingly, Keyvonne herself survived the emergency C-section. She was even able to see pictures of the little life she had carried.
In the end, though, she simply couldn’t stand the strain.
“They tried [to save her], and her heart couldn’t take it. She died before they could even get her to surgery,” Frederick said, according to the Daily Mail.
Despite the heartbreak of that loss, Frederick said that he plans to make Angelique his first and highest priority. “I’m a foster child myself, you know,” he said.
Frederick’s boss, Justin Collins, started a Facebook fundraiser for his support. Within four days, it had raised over $15,000.
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