The love of a parent knows no bounds. A parents love can create miracles and the Augler family can attest to that. When the doctor’s gave Mark Augler only a week to live, he knew that that was just not going to work. He would live until the birth of his daughter, which was about a month away. Mark Augler and his wife Diane’s love for each other and their children made that possible.
Mark Augler and his family spent a joyous Christmas together in 2011. That is because they were celebrating Mark defeating cancer. The family had a rough year with his chemotherapy treatments and cancer fight during 2011. The Augler family spent Christmas believing 2012 would be their great new year, they would have no more cancer and the birth of their baby daughter! That all changed on January 3rd, 2012.
By January 3rd, 2012 Mark Augler was back in the hospital because he had trouble breathing. After running tests, the doctors came back with the diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis. This was because after eight months of going through chemotherapy treatments his lungs had been completely destroyed.
“We thought he could get on steroid treatment and oxygen and live for years,” wife Diane Aulger explained.
Sadly, this was not to be the case. On January 16th, 2012 the doctors told the Augler family that Mark only had about one week left to live. This news was devastating to all family members but even more devastating than normal because Mark and Diane’s daughter, Savannah, was not due for another month. Mark’s dying wish was to hold his newborn daughter in his arms and his wife, Diane, was determined to make that happen. Diane Augler induced labor on January 18th, 2012 in the same hospital as Mark.
“I thought that I would be having her by myself but was very happy to find out that they were going to keep us together for the birth. When we induced the labor he was in a bed side-by-side with me,” Diane Augler remembers.
When their beautiful daughter Savannah Augler was born, she was handed into Mark Augler’s waiting arms. Thankfully, Mark’s oxygen levels were high that day and he was able to hold his daughter for 45 minutes straight. Mark and Diane’s other children surrounded their father as well. Diane noted that, “Him and I just cried that whole time.”
Mark did not only hold her following her birth, but also at another life changing moment.
“On January 23rd when he had been in a coma for about 48 hours and I could see it on the monitor that has stats were dropping and that he was gonna be passing away very soon. So, I put her in his arms and I held his hand until he stopped breathing.”
Mark held Savannah when she entered the world and she was there for him as he left this world. Savannah will not have any memories of her father, but she will grow up knowing he loved her completely. Meeting her was his dying wish and that will mean everything for her. All of Mark’s children will have to live without a father, but they should take pride in knowing they had one of the best!
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