Brave mom of 8 fosters dying babies, loving them until their last breath

Brave mom of 8 fosters dying babies, loving them until their last breath
Cori Salchert (R) with Charlie, her second hospice baby, who was diagnosed with severe brain damage due to a lack of oxygen to his brain, which left him mentally challenged. (Facebook | Cori Salchert)
1/4/2019
Updated:
1/4/2019

In our world today, there are still many virtuous people who haven’t let their inherent kindness fade away, and this fact alone makes them extraordinarily special. This story highlights one of these amazing souls.

Cori and Mark Salchert, from Utah, are blessed with eight children, but still they have opened their home to terminally ill kids. Being a registered nurse and former perinatal bereavement specialist, Cori loves and cares for the hospice babies so they may live their final days in a warm homely environment.

Cori shared with American Snippets that her career suddenly came to a halt in 2008 when she suffered a series of autoimmune diseases, which almost took her life in 2011, but her husband, Mark, gave her the strength to carry on.

This lady’s determination and rock-solid faith to help those who can’t help themselves—to be there for helpless babies when they take their last breath—is just incredible.

It was way back in August 2012 when Cori took in their first “hospice baby.” It was a 2-week-old girl born without the right or left hemisphere of her brain.

Determined not to let her die a death deprived of a funeral, a name, or love, the couple did their utmost to provide the much-needed care; they named her Emmalynn. After 50 days in their loving care, the baby passed away in the warmth of Cori’s arms.

Cori shared with American Snippets that she was heartbroken after Emmalynn’s demise. But she knew she had to move on when her daughter told her there could be some kids who really need her, and she’s “just sitting there with a broken heart?”

Thereafter, the Salcherts helped scores of other medically challenged children find loving families.

Charlie, their second hospice baby, was diagnosed with severe brain damage due the lack of oxygen to his brain, which left him mentally challenged. He was adopted into this loving family in October 2014 when he was 4 months old. Today, Charlie has outlived his prognosis by two years.

Like Emmalynn and all the children that have come through the doors of this “house of hope,” Charlie is adored by the entire family whose mission it is to make every day count.

Cori expressed her feelings poignantly in TODAY’s story by saying: “We invest deeply, and we ache terribly when these kids die, but our hearts are like stained-glass windows. Those windows are made of broken glass which has been forged back together, and those windows are even stronger and more beautiful for having been broken.”
Take a look at the incredible work this woman is doing in the video below:

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