A Georgia mom recently made the most difficult decision of her life. She’d been suffering from kidney failure for 13 years. Even though she’d have to leave her young daughter and husband behind, Sarah Long, 26, entered hospice. Sadly, just days after transitioning to hospice care, Long died. Now her husband, Justin, 32, and their daughter, 4-year-old Riley Jean, hope to keep her legacy alive.
Shortly before her death, Sarah shared her difficult decision with People. She wanted the world to know why “having a good death” was so important to her.
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Sarah had battled with her health most of her life.
She told People that after her kidney failure diagnosis at age 13, she spent half of her life going through hospitalizations, procedures, and dialysis daily for a decade. Sarah said she began to focus on having a good death experience. She wanted her husband and daughter to be a part of her life to the very end.
“I just feel like if I pushed it any harder, then I was going to get to a place where it was going to be outside of my control,” she said. “I was going to wind up dying in a hospital alone, afraid, full of tubes, scared. My daughter wouldn’t be able to be part of the process, and it would just be really lonely, and that’s really not the goal.”
Sarah had to consider her husband and daughter.
Justin and Riley Jean may not have been fully ready to let her go, but Sarah told People they understood as best as they could.
“I’ve had a lot of uncertainty at various points in my life, and this isn’t like that. This is more concrete. This is more certain. ā¦ It’s not as hard to deal with,” Sarah said. “I know in my heart that I’m making the right choice with what I’m choosing to do, and so that’s very easy as well.”
The mom hoped her daughter would remember her love.
Although they only had four short years together, the mom of one told People she wanted Riley Jean always to remember how much she loved her.
“I hope she remembers that I loved her more than anything, that I thought she was the absolute bee’s knees and the best kid in the world,” Sarah said. “And that I did everything I could to make sure that she had a solid foundation and that she got to grow up to be a really good person and get to be the person that she wanted to be more than anything else.”
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Justin created a GoFundMe account for his daughter.
The father shared his family’s story and his wife’s difficult struggles on the page. He’s raised nearly $30,000 for his daughter’s future.
When his wife died, he wrote this update:
“Sara Long passed away. I held her in my arms and told her I loved her as she took her last breath. Her kind and loving nature continues through our daughter Riley and me as she has shown me that men can be calm and loving. She has shown me that I can be the greatest dad and has shown everyone around her what true love and kindness is. I’m glad she lived a great 26 years instead of 100 mediocre ones. Thank you, Sara for giving me the absolute best 7 years of my life and the most beautiful daughter. You will NEVER be forgotten. I love you ā¤ļø”
