Doctors went to great lengths to save an unborn baby girl’s life after her mother died unexpectedly last week in Berlin, Germany.
Husband and father Dominik Lemke, 29, said his newborn daughter, Leonie-Franziska, is doing well despite the trauma, The Daily Mail reports. His wife’s unexpected death left him to care for three young children alone.
Franziska Lemke, 25, seemed well just a few weeks ago. She threw a party for family and friends, and she and her husband were eagerly awaiting their daughter’s birth, according to the report.
But last week, when Franziska went to the hospital to give birth, she began complaining of head and neck pain, the report states.
Doctors at a Berlin hospital diagnosed her with meningitis inflammation, an infection of the brain that can be deadly. Franziska’s condition deteriorated rapidly and she was deemed brain dead just a few hours later, according to the report.
“… after a quarter of an hour in the hospital she did not recognize me,” her husband said.
Machines kept her body alive so that doctors could deliver her baby girl. Two days after Leonie-Franziska was born, doctors turned off the machines and her mother died.
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“I caressed her and told her I would always be there for the children, but I had to let her go,” her husband said. “We don’t know yet how to get back into everyday life. I explained to my children that Mama is now an angel.”
The Lemkes have three children all under the age of 4, according to the report. Their youngest has been a comfort to her father as he grieves.
“The little girl is healthy. I kept her happy in my arms, but at the same time I cried for my wife, who could not share this moment with me,” Dominik said.
LifeNews Note: File photo.
