In a short space of time a mom and dad have suffered the worst kind of pain – having to bury two of their kids.
Stephanie (37) and Justin Boyce (38) from Illinois, US, suffered a traumatic ordeal in the past few months.
Eight months ago the couple lost their son Jayden (11) who was suffering from sanfilippo syndrome – a rare genetic condition that causes fatal brain damage, according to the Sanfilippo Children’s Foundation. The heartbroken parents witnessed him take his last breath, The Mirror reports.
Jayden’s sister Brooklyn also suffered from sanfilippo syndrome.
After witnessing Jayden suffer before he died, Stephanie worried that Brooklyn – whom she refers to as “B” – might die in a similar fashion, Mirror News reports.
“My greatest fear was B’s passing would be sudden and tragic,” she wrote on Instagram. “A seizure. A morning I’d find her not breathing. Some way that I couldn’t say goodbye. Some way not as holy or sacred as Jayden’s.
“What parent has to think these thoughts, ‘I wonder if my daughter’s death will be as beautiful as my son’s?’ ”
But Stephanie had the “profound honour” of being able to watch her daughter peacefully take her last breath on 6 August.
“B is probably dragging him around Heaven giving him the tour even though J [Jayden] knows his way around,” she wrote in an emotional tribute to the pair.
“And I bet J’s chuckling and going along with it as she does.”
A day after Brooklyn’s death the couple celebrated their 14th wedding anniversary. They also have a six-year-old girl Ellie, who doesn’t suffer from sanfilippo syndrome, The Sun reports.
Sources: The Mirror, Instagram/stefanieboyce5, The Sun