Days left to live, Texas man sees daughter, thanks to induced labor

With only days to live, a dying Texas man was granted his last wish to see his baby daughter by hurrying her delivery via modern medical intervention.

Mark Augler’s doctors were predicting that the 52-year-old father of two would die a couple of weeks ahead of his baby daughter’s due date. That’s when doctors suggested to Augler and his wife that there might be a way for the dad to see his newborn after all: through induction.

Tiny Savannah Augler was born on January 18 and placed on her father’s chest, where he held her for 45 minutes. His wife Diane said that he cried and “looked very sad,” but it was a priceless and irreplaceable moment: Mark was never again able to hold Savannah for more than a few moments at a time and died five days later.

The Texas man was diagnosed with colon cancer last April. He underwent surgery and six months of grueling chemotherapy. In November doctors gave him a clean bill of health; the cancer appeared to have been eradicated. But a troubling yet puzzling new symptom emerged: Mark began having trouble breathing. The problem grew worse over the holidays and became so intense that he had to go into the emergency room on January 3rd.

At the hospital, doctors told Mark that he had developed pulmonary fibrosis, a rare complication of chemotherapy treatment – a scarring and subsequent thickening of lung tissue usually seen in coal miners and asbestos workers.

Initially, the Auglers had hoped Mark could go home with an oxygen tank. Pulmonary fibrosis, though generally irreversible, does not progress to death within a matter of weeks. "He thought he'd be coming home in a few days with an oxygen tank," said Diane Aulger, who lives in The Colony, a suburb of Dallas.

But on January 16, doctors told the Auglers what they feared most: Mark had about five to six days to live. It was then that he expressed the wish to see his as-yet unborn baby. The baby, however, was due January 29, a week past Mark’s projected longevity. Diane had originally planned a natural birth, but when doctors suggested an induction to fulfill Mark’s dying wish, she didn’t think twice.

The induction was scheduled for January 18th, and the hospital arranged an extra-large delivery room to accommodate Mark, Diane, newborn baby Savannah, as well their four other children. "Our beds were side by side," Diane said.

It was a momentous gift; Mark fell into a coma on January 21st, and he died two days later.

Diane plans on keeping Mark’s memory alive by blanketing her home with pictures of him. And she says the kids are already doing a good job of it by talking to Mark every day.

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Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

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