Hakeem Adeniji announces stillbirth of first son with wife Kayla

Hakeem Adeniji, offensive tackle for the Cleveland Browns, is mourning the loss of his baby boy.

The NFL player shared a heartbreaking video on his Instagram along with a carousel of photos where he announced the stillbirth of his and his wife’s son Semiu Zade Adeniji.

“It was the worst moment of my life,” Hakeem Adeniji said through tears. “Everybody that knows me knows how bad I wanted to be a dad.”

Adeniji explained that six days before his wife Kayla was scheduled to be induced, the couple went to the hospital as a precaution. While there the couple discovered through an ultrasound that their baby did not have a heartbeat.

“We lost our son. We had to say goodbye to the most perfect, beautiful boy I’ve ever seen. We will never ever be the same and we will never forget him,” Kayla wrote in a tribute to her son on Instagram.

“He had a head full of curls and his daddy’s nose. The softest cheeks and big hands,” she continued alongside several hospital photos. “He will always be my son and I will always be his mom. He got us through so much this year and stayed so strong for us for so long. I will always remember holding him and smelling him. He was just perfect.”

“Oh my sweet boy mommy and daddy will always smile when we think of you, I promise. Please look out for us my angel.”

A few days later, on November 7 the day she was originally scheduled to be induced, Kayla shared one of the couple’s most intimate moments with their son–the first time she got to hold Semiu.

Kayla explained how moving forward she and Hakeem planned to honor their son with “new family traditions,” starting with watching The Lion King, a movie Hakeem couldn’t wait to watch with his son.

“Better days ahead of us,” the NFL player wrote in a second Instagram post acknowledging the challenges that lie ahead.

“I know my little soldier is up there watching us and giving us strength. Everyday that god continues to wake me up I will do right by him and make him proud.”