It’s an agonizing decision that no man wants to make: A Colorado man had to choose between the survival of his unborn child or his wife, who had gone into premature labor.
Now, Frederick Connie, of Littleton, has welcomed a baby girl, Angelique Keyvonne Connie, into his life, but is mourning the loss of his wife, who died after giving birth, KDVR reported.
Keyvonne Connie’s due date was not until mid-January, but on Nov. 30 she began hemorrhaging, the television station reported.
"I'm like, 'Are you OK?' And I see blood everywhere," Frederick Connie told KDVR.
At the hospital the doctors presented Frederick Connie with a difficult choice.
"It was either give her the surgery first and maybe save her life, but you're going to lose your daughter. Or your daughter can be saved but there's a chance you might lose your wife," Frederick Connie told KDVR.
Frederick Connie chose an emergency C-section to save the baby.
"I'm glad I made that decision because in the end if Keyvonne probably could have survived she would have hated me for the rest of my life because I knew how she felt about kids," he told KDVR.
Keyvonne Connie lived long enough to see pictures of her daughter, but her health rapidly declined moments later. She died the same day Angelique was born.
"Literally all of her insides just went all over the bed and the floor," Frederick Connie told KDVR. "They tried (to save her) and her heart couldn't take it. She died before they could even get her to the surgery."
Angelique is expected to remain in the hospital for a few more weeks, the television station reported.
"I'm (ignorant) on changing diapers but I'm going to learn. I'm going to be a full-time father to her," Connie told KDVR.
Connie’s debts have mounted due to his wife’s medical costs and funeral, and the costs of caring for Angelique in the hospital.
"I'm financially not OK. This debt is like piling up and I have to bury my wife, my daughter coming into the world, it's so high right now," Connie told KDVR.
Connie's boss, Justin Collins, has started a fundraiser on Facebook.
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