Woman Shattered by Husband's Death Just Hours After Seeing Baby's Ultrasound Photos
English couple Paul and Lisa Thompson were flying high in May after seeing the ultrasound of their healthy baby, the fifth child they would welcome into their loving home.
Paul was gearing up to celebrate his 50th birthday and had a trip to Turkey planned with his wife to celebrate their 17 years of marriage.
But just hours after the doctor’s visit where the couple glimpsed their 11-week-old unborn baby through ultrasound imaging, tragedy struck.
Paul had taken his car to the mechanic and was waiting at the bus stop when he suddenly collapsed.
What had started out as one of the couple’s best days quickly turned to heartbreak.
Paul had suffered a spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage, Wakefield Express reported, and there was nothing doctors could do to save his life.
Lisa, 38, recalled the moment she found out her husband was not going to recover.
“The consultant came in and said to me, ‘I’m very sorry, I’ve some sad news to tell you but Paul is very poorly,'” Lisa told Wakefield Express.
“He explained what had happened about the vein bursting. ‘He’s got a massive bleed on his brain and he’s going to die.'”
“It was just as if I was in a bad dream hearing these words, thinking, this can’t be happening, we’ve just seen our unborn child,” Lisa said.
As Paul lay dying, doctors told Lisa about the opportunity for organ donation, a decision that would save the lives of others, if the family so chose.
In the midst of their shock and sorrow, the Thompson family made the brave decision to have Paul’s organs donated, a decision they know he would have supported.
Lisa explained that the couple’s first child, a girl, died in 2006 from Turner syndrome, a rare disorder that affects just one in every 2,000 girls.
Knowing firsthand the unbearable pain of losing a child, Lisa knew her husband would have jumped at the chance to help keep other families from experiencing the same loss.
“If there is a heaven and if there is somewhere we go, he would be looking down thinking, ‘I’ve helped a child,” Lisa said. “Because he’s lost a child.”
“I think that would be quite touching for him, because we never got over our first born with this rare condition.”
Since their daughter’s death, the couple went on to have three other children: Isabella, 12, Andre, 9, and Ava-Grace, 6.
Lisa expects to give birth to her fifth child in December.
“I renewed my vows at the hospital as he lay there in a coma,” Lisa told YapApp. “I asked for forgiveness when I was not the perfect wife. I wanted to show Paul how much he was my world. 17 years together he showed me what love was and gave me 5 children, one who he is with now our Turner Syndrome daughter Gabrielle.”
“But I will try and get through this and we will have devotion for the baby. To our children, their Daddy he was their hero.”
A fundraising platform has been arranged to help Lisa stay on her feet as she raises her children on her own.
As they grapple with the sudden loss, they take solace in knowing that Paul has saved lives as an organ donor.
“He has helped to saved 9 peoples lives and a child with a heart defect,” the campaign page read.
Our hearts go out to the Thompson family during this difficult time.
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