Child Born to Mom Who Refused to Undergo Cancer Treatment Has Died

A baby who was born to a mother who refused brain cancer treatment so her child could live has died, according to a statement from the family this week.

Carrie DeKlyen refused to undergo treatment for her brain cancer as it would have meant her ending the pregnancy, according to previous reports.

Carrie died on Sept. 9---three days after she gave birth to her child, Life Lynn Deklyen. The child had been doing well after being born prematurely but “took a turn for the worse” this week, relatives told the New York Daily News. Life weighed only 1 pound, four ounces at birth.

The family announced the child’s death in a statement.

“It is with great sadness and an absolutely broken heart that I tell you Life Lynn passed away last night. Carrie is now rocking her baby girl ... The grief we feel is almost unbearable, please be praying for our family,” the family wrote on Facebook, WGN reported.

The child died at the University of Michigan Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“We don’t have any answers,” the baby’s aunt Sonya Nelson said. “The cards were kind of stacked against her,” she concluded of the child.

“Maybe Carrie needed her,” Nelson added. “It is comforting for us to know that she went home to be with Carrie.”

Carrie’s husband, Nick, said that the decision was rooted in their faith. They have five other children, ranging in age from 2 to 18 years old.

Carrie made headlines after revealing she was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressively malignant brain tumor. She would have had to terminate her pregnancy.

Life Lynn was slated to remain in intensive care for at least four months but she wasn’t gaining weight.

A GoFundMe page set up for the family has raised over $150,000 as of press time.