Loan Woll has gone through things that no one should ever have to go through.
But if her story wasn’t told, she might just be a statistic and not get the support from the thousands of people who have stood behind her.
When Loan found out she was pregnant in June 2016, she and her husband, Ben, cried tears of joy.
The news was particularly meaningful because Loan had had a miscarriage a couple months before.
Overjoyed, Loan went to the doctor and her baby was given a due date of February 24, 2017.
Loan and Ben knew that 2017 was going to be a life-changing year — but they were hardly prepared for the reason why.
The couple’s lives, and especially Loan’s, were about to take an tragic unexpected turn.
The changes weren’t what Ben and Loan had in mind, but their journey shows why we should never give up hope.
Nineteen weeks into the pregnancy, Loan had some routine bloodwork done.
It turned out that she suffered from an iron deficiency and her doctors prescribed iron supplements.
Loan’s doctors also told her not to Google her symptoms. They didn’t want her to scare herself and think she had “leukemia or something.”
Then one day in January 2017, Loan felt incredibly weak and started vomiting blood.
Ben called emergency services and the couple went straight to the hospital. Loan’s hemoglobin levels were as low as someone who had been stabbed, and the situation looked bleak.
The doctors gave Loan a blood transfusion and checked her child’s pulse. But unfortunately, the baby didn’t have a heartbeat.
The next day, her doctors induced labor and Loan delivered her stillborn son. His name was Finnick Ngoc Woll and he was born dead on January 14, 2017.
“I held my son for 10 minutes before I could even look at him. I thought, maybe if I don’t look at him, I won’t be so attached, you know?” Loan told the Daily Advertiser.
Unfortunately, the doctors also had to convey another tragic message to Loan just one day after she lost her son.
The cause of Loan’s blood loss and her low hemoglobin levels was Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), a type of cancer that starts in the white blood cells.
Despite the the stillborn baby and her cancer diagnosis, Loan set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for others in need.
Loan’s fundraising efforts will help three organizations.
One supports cancer research, one supports women with cancer, and third supports parents who have stillborn babies.
Somehow, Loan has found strength in her personal tragedy and now she is helping others cope with their own tragedies.
At the time of this writing, Loan’s GoFundMe campaign has collected more than $62,000, money that will help both cancer-affected families and cancer researchers.
It’s especially impressive considering all that Loan has been through.
All respect to you, Loan!
Please consider sharing Loan’s inspirational and heartbreaking story to celebrate her courage and fighting spirit!
Let’s send her all of the positive energy we can to make her feel better and help her beat cancer!
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