A 23-year-old woman has adopted her 11-year-old sister after their mother died; the girl's father, too, is struggling with a terminal illness.
Ezri Hart and Braidyn Neefe's mother, Erika, 45, died last year after a stroke. Ms. Hart has taken on the care of her sibling, Braidyn, after Braidyn's father, Michael, 49, was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Braidyn has now moved in with Ms. Hart and her husband, David, 24, after Michael's condition worsened, forcing the elder sister to learn how to be a parent overnight. Braidyn was formally adopted by the couple in May.
“When Michael got the cancer diagnosis, I had a pretty big breakdown," said Ms. Hart, who lives in Vancouver, Washington, and manages a freight warehouse.
“Part of me was grieving for a life that I had planned for myself. I’m only 23 and was living a pretty typical life of a 23-year-old, which I was kind of enjoying. ... I’m trying to create a sense of normalcy for Braidyn so we can have a general life plan ahead.
“She's had a lot of instability. I’m hoping we can get a nice place to live and figure out how to work through all this."
Michael was diagnosed with glioblastoma, a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor, in late 2022. Erika had a stroke in December 2022, and Ms. Hart says she then refused to take blood pressure medication as it “made her feel funny." She then had another stroke in February, which led to a serious brain bleed, and she passed away on Feb. 9.
Braidyn moved in with Ms. Hart while Michael moved to a separate house in Vancouver. Then, in June, Michael was given a maximum of three months to live, with doctors predicting he would die in less than three weeks.
He'd previously been given five years to live, but his condition deteriorated after an insurance issue caused him to temporarily lose access to his cancer treatment.
Ms. Hart said: “My sister Braidyn was born when I was 12. Somehow I knew she was going to live with me at some point.
“Mum had bad mental health problems. I thought this would be the reason why she would have to give up Braidyn, but it ended up being because she passed away.
"The day she moved in with me was the first time she’d ever been outside of the east of Washington state. ... It was the first time she'd been near mountains and trees. It was a really strange experience.
"I was really sad, and yet Braidyn was having all these new life experiences—she was happy in a lot of ways."
Ms. Hart says that though the family has managed to have some amazing experiences, it's been a lot to deal with. She's had to get to grips with parenting very quickly.
“Braidyn was brought up very sheltered," she said. "She never really left her house ... My mum had never taught her how to write.
“She’s getting scheduled with occupational therapy and has had issues with her muscles and feet not being developed properly, from lack of exposure, as well as speech therapy."
However, Braidyn has been a real inspiration to Ms. Hart. “She’s doing amazing," the big sister said.
"She doesn’t realize the tragedy she’s been through but is doing so well considering."
