Jade Small
Jade Small
January 1, 2024 ·  3 min read

Dying Father Fights Death Just Enough To Meet His Daughter Once

Having a family member with cancer is always difficult. Watching them struggle and become just a fraction of their former selves is one of the most difficult things to go through. Of course, having Cancer is a horrific experience. And, so many people can not beat the disease, making it even more heartbreaking. This story of a dying father is heartbreaking but beautiful. Grab the tissues because this story will, without a doubt, will bring you to tears.[1]

GoggleBox Stand Up To Cancer

While this story is from 2019, it’s still relevant; it’s still incredibly moving and will have you shedding a tear just as it did for those appearing on GoogleBox’s Stand up to Cancer special show. The episode showed the horrendous effects of cancer on both the victim of the disease and their loved ones. This particular story was of a loving father named Brett. Brett was a dad to three children. Sadly, he also had a brain tumor and was terminally ill. He met his third daughter, Arya, just a few mere moments before passing away. The episode on GoogleBox brought many to tears as it showed his battle of cancer over the years until finally passing in early 2019. The most heartbreaking part of this story was that the dying father held on just long enough to meet his little girl.[2]

A dying fathers journey

Brett and Nicola were both teachers and newly qualified. After being best friends for some time, they soon realized their love for one another. It was not long until the couple were married and soon had a baby on the way. Nicola describes Brett as a perfect father. As their time together progressed, she also says she noticed some changes in him. But, she thought little of them. Until one day, he went to see a doctor. It was on this day that Brett discovered he had a brain tumor. The couple’s biggest fears came true, and the dying father was informed how surgery to remove the tumor could cause death sooner than expected.[1]

We sat down with his neurologist and they went through the extremes of what the surgery could lead to. We almost started to panic and they took as much of the tumor away as they could. When the tumor grew back, when I was pregnant with Arya, it was more aggressive. It couldn’t be operated on.”

Nicola

A heartbreaking ending for dying father of three

It was only three short months after this dreadful doctor’s visit that Brett suffered a seizure. Sadly, this happened while Nicola went into labor with their third child. Nicola describes how all she wanted was to make sure he got to meet his little girl before passing away. She says that the staff did whatever they possibly could to make sure Brett held on long enough. Nicola’s mother drove her and the newborn to her dying father in his hospital bed.[2]

It was like a race against time to make sure we were ok but could get going [to the hospital he was in]. I knew what was gonna happen and I wanted him to know that it was ok. I told him it’s ok, don’t hurt yourself anymore.

Nicola
dying father meets his newborn daughter
channel 4

Nicola then rested her newborn daughter in her husband’s arms as she described to him what she looked like. The dying father of three was able to hold on just long enough to meet his new baby. After a few hours of spending time together, he passed away. Their daughter was born at 5:07 am on February 11, 2019. Brett passed away at 8:25 am that same day.

Here is the heartbreaking video that was shown on GoogleBox. Brett’s story. A story of a dying father and a race against time.

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Sources

  1. Gogglebox viewers in tears as father dies of cancer hours after meeting newborn daughter.” Metro. Abigail Gillibrand. 25 October 2019.
  2. Jack Whitehall and Nick Grimshaw are left in tears on Gogglebox Stand Up.”Daily Mail.  Bryony Jewel. October 29, 2019.

This article originally appeared on Secret Life of Mom and has been republished here with permission.