Woman Sacrificed Her Own Life To Save Her Unborn Son

On November 3,34-year-old Karisa Bugal was going into labor at the Medical Center of Aurora, Colorado, when doctors discovered that she had a rare and unpreventable condition called amniotic fluid embolism.

"The amniotic fluids surrounding the baby or part of the baby's skin or hair gets into the mother's bloodstream and that causes catastrophic shutdown of all the organs," Dr. Kelly Gerow told KUSA-TV. "We don't know how to prevent it. We don't know how to keep it from happening at all."

Because of the condition, her unborn child's heart rate began to dip, and the mother was faced with a horrible choice: Have a C-section and save his life, or delay and save her own.

"Her other option would have been to stay awake for her surgery, but by the time we would have put in a spinal tap or something it's possible Declan would not have made it," Dr. Gerow told KUSA-TV.

Karisa didn't hesitate to make the decision that would ensure her baby's delivery, and went under the knife knowing full well that the procedure would most likely be fatal for her.

At around 7:30 a.m. on November 4, Declan Jay Bugal, a healthy, 7-pound, 4-ounce baby boy, was born. The staff told his mother that her miracle baby had made it, then wheeled her to the ICU, where she passed away shortly thereafter. Her last words were, "How big is he?"

Her husband, Wes Bugal, was devastated, wondering how he would break the news to their daughter, Mallory, and his newborn son when he was old enough to understand what happened.

"How do I explain to him that his mom is gone giving birth to him? I think about that all the time," Wes Bugal told KUSA-TV. "How do I explain when he asks, 'Where's Mommy?' 

Hold on to what you have now because you never know when it's going to be taken away from you."

A GoFundMe campaign has been set up in her name, and the goal of $20,000 was exceeded in just over a day (at the moment, it stands at almost $45,635). 

The comments section has been flooded with messages of condolences, as well as touching reminders of just far a mother's love can go.

From: Womans Day