It’s hard to imagine anything harder than losing a child. The crippling grief is something that will be carried throughout a family’s life. This pain is evident in a picture of a boy saying a final goodbye to his 4-year-old sister.
After suddenly having trouble walking and trembling in her hands, Addy Sooten’s parents knew something was wrong. They took her to specialists where many of tests were run. Then they got a devastating diagnosis. Addy had a diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), an aggressive tumor on the brain stem.
Addy initially responded well to radiation but in time the cancer spread to other parts of her tiny body. Her desperate parents searched around the globe for possible cures that might save their daughter. They even went to Mexico for an experimental treatment.
Last month, Addy was having tremendous pain in her spine. Their precious preschooler was then put into hospice. While the family continued searching for a miracle, they asked for prayers as they prepared for the worst.
It soon became evident that Addy’s short life was coming to an end as the cancer consumed her body. On their Facebook page for their daughter, Matt shared a picture of their oldest son Jackson saying goodbye to Addy. It is incredibly heartbreaking to imagine the pain he was feeling as he refused to leave his dying sister’s side.
“A little boy should not have to say goodbye to his partner in crime, his play mate, his best friend, his little sister,” Matt’s post read. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. But this is the broken world we live in.”
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Addy died the following day. “At 1:04a.m. Our sweet little girl received the miraculous healing that we’ve all been praying for so long and ran into the arms of Jesus. She passed from this life to the next just as she had lived: stubbornly but also peacefully, and surrounded by family,” he wrote on Facebook.
What unimaginable heartbreak. Addy gave one last gift when she died. Her brain, spine, and tumors were donated to science to help other children overcome this illness. Hopefully, researchers can learn more through this donation.
The Sooters were focusing on God during this tumultuous time. “Always remember: God is in this situation, He’s up to something, and He’s up to something GOOD,” the grieving father wrote on Facebook.
Source: Western Journal
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