They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in a recent story out of Hampshire, England, that might not begin to cover it. Several snapshots of a new mom, shown cuddling her newborn son, are going viral online this week. But the reason why is both poignant and heartbreaking: They were taken just hours after the mother, Teegan Barnard, was declared brain dead — and moments before she passed away.
When Barnard gave birth to her son Parker on September 7, the young mother experienced complications her doctors weren't expecting.
The 17-year-old mother suffered from internal bleeding during her delivery, which then caused her to go into cardiac arrest, the Daily Mail reported. Her doctors at St. Richard's Hospital attempted to perform CPR, but she was left with severe brain damage.
Barnard remained under doctor's supervision for four weeks after giving birth, and during that time, her own mother, 35-year-old Abbie Hallawell, would often lay little Parker in his mother's arms.
The new grandmother said she took the photos so that her grandson could see them when he gets older.
Hallawell told Fabulous Digital that she took special care in capturing them.
"Seeing Parker in his mommy's arms where he belongs has been so important to me," she explained. "I put them together at every possible moment."
Teegan passed away peacefully Oct. 7 while at home, surrounded by family and friends.
"Now she has gone, we dress Parker in vests with his mum's picture on," Hallawell added. "I want to keep her close to him always."
Understandably, the trauma of Teegan's sudden death, particularly at such a young age, has hit her family hard.
"We are all in terrible shock. I just want Teegan back," her mother said. "I didn't realize my heart could break into a million pieces. I'll never be the same again."
The grandmother said she will be raising Parker along with the boy's father, Leon Forster.
Still, she can't help but feel that her daughter was cheated out of a future she wanted so badly.
"She was so looking forward to being a mummy. She was so excited," Hallawell said. "I think people got fed up with us talking about it all the time. She had so much love for him and didn’t even get to show him."
Hallawell added that she and her daughter, who were just 18 years apart, were more like "best friends" than mother and daughter.
"I miss her so much, it's unbearable," she continued. "I can't imagine the future without her, not hearing her beautiful voice again."
A fundraiser has been set up to help Teegan's family, but her mother is just heartbroken that her daughter won't get to see her son grow up.
"I am so proud of Teegan and Parker. I just wish so much she was here to see it for herself," she said.
