A Canadian whose brain-dead pregnant wife is being kept on life support until the birth of their baby is giving the public a glimpse of his very personal tragedy.
In an online blog, Dylan Benson has been recording his feelings as he grieves for his wife Robyn, whom he called “his rock,” while preparing to be a single father to a son.
The mother-to-be suffered a brain hemorrhage at the end of December, when she was 22 weeks along.
Doctors hope to keep her alive until she reaches 34 weeks at the end of March, at which point they plan to perform a Cesarean section.
She is expected to be taken off life support shortly thereafter.
“On one hand, I can’t wait to meet my son and try to give him the best life possible and try my hardest to be a great dad for him,” the 32-year-old wrote on misterbenson.com.
“But on the other hand I know that the day or the day after he is born will be the day that I have to say goodbye to Robyn.”
“I miss her so much.”
Benson also recounts visiting his wife in hospital every day, taking a tour of the neonatal intensive care unit and the kindness of strangers – including a cab driver who dropped off lasagna after being moved by his story.
A spokeswoman at Victoria General Hospital in westernmost Canada confirmed Robyn Benson is a patient but could not provide details due to privacy laws.
“Having a soon-to-be-mother on life support and brain dead is a rare tragedy,” she said.
Last month, a brain dead, pregnant woman was taken off life support at a hospital in the US state of Texas, ending a legal battle that had kept her on a ventilator against her family’s wishes.
