Just before the birth of Diane and Mark’s fifth child, they suffered a devastating blow. After getting the all-clear from the doctor that Mark did not have cancer, he was then told that eight months of chemotherapy had destroyed his lungs and he was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.
“We thought he could be on steroids and oxygen therapy and live for years,” Diane told ABC News.
Just a month before their baby girl is due, Mark, 52, was told he only had a week left to live.
Amid the pain of such devastating news, Diane was brave enough to be urged two weeks ago to give Mark the opportunity to meet her daughter before she died.
So, in a larger than usual delivery room with Mark lying next to her with an oxygen mask over her face, Diane Savannah gave birth on January 18.
Mark managed to hold his daughter for 45 minutes and the only photo Savannah would ever take with her dad was taken.
The next day, Mark tried to hold Savannah again, but could only control for a minute before slipping into a coma, according to ABC News.
Five days after the birth of his daughter, the devoted husband and father of five children died.
“The kids carry on like my dad is still really there,” Diane told ABC News. “Mark was a very funny guy. My kids still tell jokes about what they would do when he was around. He would have been a great dad to Savannah.”
