How Gloria And Steve Kimmel Found Comfort And Strength After Losing Their Baby Boy Isaac
PSYCHOLOGY
How Gloria And Steve Kimmel Found Comfort And Strength After Losing Their Baby Boy Isaac
25 K
It is never a happy story when parents have to deal with a congenital disease in the life of an ailing child and it’s most gut-wrenching when that family gets to lose their child months after its birth.
However, the Kimmel’s found hope and renewed strength amidst pain and grief.
An Unfortunate Event
Isaac, the first-born son of Steven and Gloria Kimmel, was diagnosed with Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) at 6 months old. This rare condition, also called Werdnig-Hoffman disease, occurs in one out of 6,000 live births causing difficulty in breathing, muscle weakness, and sucking.
Though a terminal condition, the Kimmel’s ensured that they made the most of their time with Isaac, creating a Facebook page where they shared the bittersweet journey of their boy and joining a clinical trial for an experimental drug for SMA patients.
Sadly, in July 2015, Isaac passed away and in his honor and as a way to deal with the loss, a week after his funeral, the Kimmel’s got matching tattoos of angel wings, one wing on each of their backs.
Movement to replace the 5 Stages of Grief with this scientific chart in psychology textbooks
Gloria Kimmel Speaks About The Experience.
Gloria explained to Yahoo Beauty:
The tattoo was meant to be his angel wings. He was half of each of us, so we each had one of his wings to hold us. He was the angel that was holding us together when we were so lost without him. The tattoos are a reminder that he is always with us in spirit.
She also added:
I kept a grief journal to write all the thoughts that were bouncing around in my head down on paper. It helped to clear my head so that I was able to sleep. We have a loving support system with friends, family, and our church community.
A Ray Of Sunlight
Their daughter Claire was born during the period Isaac would have been 3 years old, giving Steven and Gloria a new found a reason for celebration.
The Kummel’s, as part of their daughter’s baby photo shoot, had the swaddled Claire rest on their backs with creative precision, so that the wings on both sides, spread out as extended appendages of her.
My sister & her husband got tattoos of angel wings after their son died 2 yrs ago. They had a baby girl in June. This moves me to tears. pic.twitter.com/2sVwxkfuBG
— Grass (@Grace_Arend_13) August 9, 2017
This photo has since gone viral, many thanks to Gloria’s sister who posted it on Twitter. The photo got more than 20,000 shares and nearly 70,000 likes leaving Gloria thrilled at such an enormous response from people as she recounted,
There are so many wonderful people out there who can send their heartfelt condolences and congratulations in waves. And we can feel it!
Truly, the world reminded the Kimmel’s that the sun most definitely shines after the rain.
