Just a few hours after welcoming their first-born Shane, Jenna and Dan Haley - the Pennsylvania couple who made a bucket list for their unborn baby who was diagnosed with anencephaly, bid their little boy good bye.
"Today at 6:15 a.m., after meeting his entire family and being baptized into the Catholic faith, baby Shane died peacefully in his Mother's arms. We are so grateful for the time that we were blessed to hold and hug our son." The couple said in a Facebook status on Prayers for Shane.
The said status post that included 6 photos of Shane and his parents have garnered over 500,000 likes, almost 90,000 comments and almost 50,000 shares. This shows the overwhelming support the family gets from their growing number of new-found friends over the social media platform after the couple created the page for their baby last March 08 of this year.
The news about the Daley's made rounds all-over the internet after the couple decided to turn down their doctor's suggestion to abort Shane, after finding out that the baby has anencephaly, and instead started a bucket list for Shane to complete even when he is still in his mommy. This, according to the couple, is the best way for them to make the most of the time they have with Shane whose condition gives him a life expectancy of few hours to a few days.
Baby Shane, through his parents, had completed his bucket list long before he was born. Among the highlights of his bucket list included visits and adventures to his parent's favorite places when they were kids, going to a Phillies game, a visit to the Empire State Building, watching his dad's baseball game and to share a cheese steak with his parents.
Anencephaly is an embryonic development defect where the spinal column, parts of the brain and the skull fail to develop. According to recent statistics, one out of ever 10,000 babies in America are born with the condition.