A UK mother who sacrificed her life to save her unborn son’s has died.
Tasha Trafford was first diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer in December 2012. After treatment, she went into remission; but her cancer returned in 2015. At the time, she was 16 weeks pregnant with her unborn son, and her doctors urged her to abort him and begin chemotherapy. But the then- 33-year-old refused.
Now, the Daily Mail reports Trafford has died. She spent 11 precious months with her newborn son. Her father recently told the news outlet that his daughter died on Nov. 12, 2016 – just one month before her son Cooper’s first birthday.
Here’s more from the report:
The 33-year-old had desperately wanted to to be there for Cooper’s first birthday.
Her father, Dai Gallivan, was just grateful his daughter got as long as she did with her son.
‘She had him for 11 months,’ he said.
‘She knew what was happening but we didn’t speak about it much. It was a really long illness and was incredibly hard for Tasha.’
The family said Cooper is a healthy infant because of his mother’s sacrifices. Trafford refused chemotherapy and radiotherapy until she gave birth to Cooper, hoping to protect him. She also adamantly refused to abort him.
“Doctors were blunt. They said, ‘What are you going to do? It’s you or your baby,’” Trafford said in 2015. “But living a life without ever knowing the joy of becoming a mum wasn’t an option for me. And while I know refusing chemo until the baby is born is a big risk, doing anything that might harm my unborn baby would be unthinkable.”
Here’s the rest of the family’s story as reported in 2015:
As soon as the midwife handed me my baby we had a lovely cuddle,’ she says. ‘Jon gave me a kiss and said, “He’s perfect.” My mum and dad, proud grandparents for the first time, were there with us, Dad taking dozens of photos. Our baby was surrounded by love.
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‘It was amazing to think something so wonderful had been growing inside me as well as something as horrible as cancer. Cooper is our little miracle.
‘I always understood the risks to my own health in having him, but I never had a flicker of doubt that I was doing the right thing. I longed to be a mum and the knowledge that I would be, kept me going through my pregnancy, despite all the pain and fear.
‘I’m stubborn. I told myself I would deal with the consequences when I had to. Now I’m looking ahead hopefully, and in January I start chemotherapy again. But whatever’s in store, I’ll just face it knowing that Cooper could not be more loved, and that even if I’m not around, a part of Jon and me will live on in our son.’
