Carrie DeKylen died early Saturday morning at the University of Michigan Hospital after sacrificing the opportunity to prolong her life so that she could give birth to her sixth child. Carrie who had brain cancer gave birth to her baby while in a coma.

Carrie’s selfless actions

Two weeks after being diagnosed with glioblastoma 37-year-old Carrie DeKylen found out that she was pregnant with her sixth child. After two surgeries to remove the tumor she opted to forgo chemotherapy as it would have meant terminating her pregnancy.

CBS News reported that following a stroke, she suffered due to the tumor, Carrie was put in a medically induced coma in the last week of July.

When Carrie was diagnosed with glioblastoma her family started a Facebook page Cure 4 Carrie and Go Fund Me to make people more aware of what the family was going through. They also wanted to raise funds for Carrie and the baby’s care. The post raised over 16,000 likes and was shared over 3,000 times.

Doctors initially hoped to deliver baby Lynn at 28 weeks which would have been at the end of September. However, with the baby moving less and less, they decided they could wait no longer as they did not want her to die in Carrie’s womb. On Wednesday Carrie gave birth to her daughter, Life Lynn DeKylen, via an emergency cesarean section. Born prematurely at 24 weeks and five days into Carrie’s pregnancy Life Lynn weighed one pound and four ounces.

On Thursday, one day later, doctors removed Carrie’s feeding and breathing tubes. Early on Saturday morning, she died, three days after she gave birth to Life Lynn.

At the time of her passing, she was surrounded by her family. Nick DeKlyen said that among his last words to his wife Carrie were, “I’ll see you in heaven.” He added, “We stayed with her until she took her last breath,” affirming, "It's painful but this is what she wanted.

She wanted to protect this child."

Besides Life Lynn, Carrie and Nick have 5 other children: Elijah, 18; Isaiah, 16; Navaeh, 11; Leila, four; and Jez, two.

Life Lynn shows signs of improvement

Baby Life Lynn has been described as ‘so tiny but definitely a fighter.’ Nick said, “We expect her to be a healthy baby. The doctor just said the timing (of the birth) couldn’t have been more perfect.”

However, on Sunday, news of her ‘having a rough night’ were posted on Cure 4 Carrie and a prayer appeal was issued.

Since then Life Lynn has shown signs of improvement. Another post on Monday stated, “Awesome news to report! Life Lynn has had an amazing turnaround! We just spoke with the hospital and they said she is doing amazing!”

She is expected to remain in the hospital for four to five months so that she can get larger and also get healthier.

Glioblastoma

This is the most aggressive tumor that can be formed in the brain. While it can be located in any part of the brain it is formed from the glial cells in the brain. Two ways of treating it are chemotherapy and radiation. Carrie opted to do radiation as chemotherapy would have terminated her pregnancy. Carrie’s decision and her actions were selfless. For those who wish to keep following this story, you can visit Cure 4 Carrie and Go Fund Me.