Weeks After Couple Learns of Pregnancy Following Tragic Miscarriage, Dad-To-Be Dies of Heart Attack
Danny and Marketta Davis were over the moon with anticipation when they learned that Marketta was expecting a baby, due in March.
They had already endured a miscarriage earlier this year, making this rainbow baby a very welcome, prayerfully sought after blessing.
But two weeks after the exciting news of Marketta’s pregnancy, tragedy struck. Danny, who had served in the Air Force for 18 years, suddenly collapsed and died of a heart attack inside the couple’s home.
Now, Marketta is trying to grieve the painful loss while at the same time, celebrating the anticipated arrival of her baby girl.
“I truly married my best friend. I know it sounds cheesy, but I had the fairy tale marriage. He was my best friend,” Marketta told WFTS-TV.
Marketta and Danny had spent over a decade together as husband and wife, checking off life’s milestones one by one.
“We created a bucket list right before we got married, and just started going down the list,” she told WTVT. “The last thing on the list was a baby.”
When Marketta learned she was expecting a girl, she decided to celebrate with a special photoshoot, one that would simultaneously honor Danny’s life.
Marketta’s photographer, Jessica Allen, seemed to know just how to handle the bittersweet photoshoot with delicacy and grace.
“Jessica asked me in the beginning, send me all of the photos you have of Danny that I could cut and crop and play around with,” Marketta said. “The shirt he’s wearing in that photo is the one I was holding for the shoot. It’s just like, it was meant to be.”
As Marketta held the plaid, button-down shirt that belonged to Danny in her hands, her eyes filled with painful, bittersweet tears.
“I brought a shirt, one of his favorite shirts, and I could still smell him on it,” Marketta said. “And as soon as she asked me to hold that shirt, I just lost it. She caught every real moment, and she caught it so beautifully.”
Danny and Marketta had originally planned to name their daughter after their grandmothers, but in light of Danny’s death, the baby’s name will be Danni LilliResa Davis.
“I want her to know that even though her dad isn’t here in this world, that he’s still around,” Marketta said of her baby. “That he still loves her, and that he always will. And so will I.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
