"I thought back to the moment where we found out Eva wasn't perfect," Royce wrote on Facebook, "and how literally 30 seconds after our doctor told us our baby doesn't have a brain, somehow through full body ugly crying, Keri looked up and asked, 'If I carry her full term, can we donate her organs?'"[rsnippet id="3"] During a time of such intense personal grief, it was an incredibly selfless and compassionate question. But Keri wasn't merely asking -- she was committing.
"Keri meant it. There I was, crestfallen and heartbroken, but I momentarily got lifted out of the moment and just stood in awe of her. . . In literally the worst moment of her life, finding out her baby was going to die, it took her less than a minute to think of someone else and how her selflessness could help. It's one of the most powerful things I've ever experienced. . . It hit me that not only am I married to my very best friend, but to a truly remarkable, special human being."RELATED: Husband pens an emotional letter after nearly losing his wife during childbirth
"I knew what we had to do, I just didn't want to do it," she said in her post.
"Our pastor simply asked, 'Royce, how old are you?' 'Uh, 31.' 'In your 31 years of life, how many lives have you saved?' 'Zero.' 'In your daughter's 24 hours of life she might save 50 lives. She's going to be a very busy girl, you know'"The meeting with their pastor ultimately confirmed what Keri already knew she must do. She was committed to seeing the pregnancy through. RELATED: Mom refuses to decide her baby's fate when doctors suggest abortion
"Keri has been in the trenches the entire time, feeling every little kick, every hiccup and every roll," he writes. "She's reminded every moment of every day that she's carrying a baby that will die."The consolation is the couple will at least get to meet their baby girl, if only for a short time. Royce and Keri take comfort in knowing that while they grieve, other families will be celebrating. All because of the gift of their little miracle.
"While the experience of holding and kissing our daughter will be something we cherish forever, the gift(s) she's got inside that little body of hers is what really matters," Royce said. "Keri saw that almost instantly. . . There's another family out there hurting and hoping for a miracle for their baby, knowing full well someone else's baby will need to die first. Eva can be that miracle."RELATED: Baby expected to die miraculously gets a liver transplant just in time
"Whenever Harrison gets hurt, or has to pull a bandaid off or something, Keri will ask him, 'Are you tough? Are you BRAVE?' And that little boy will nod his head and say, 'I tough! I brave!' I'm looking at Keri right now and I don't even have to ask. She's TOUGH. She's BRAVE," Royce writes. "Not that I needed some awful situation like this to actually see all of that, but what it did was make me want to tell everyone else about it."