Sarah Whitney was pictured with newborn son Kal-El feeding on her remaining breast after she underwent a single mastectomy.
The mum-of-three was overcome with emotion as the tiny baby latched onto her.
At 31, Sarah Whitney was diagnosed with stage-3 breast c.*.n.c.e.r. Twenty weeks pregnant with her third child at the time, the Florida mother had surgery to have one breast removed and soon after, began chemotherapy. Throughout her pregnancy, Whitney says her main concern was to have a healthy baby.
So there was immense joy when son Kal-El was born healthy in April. Photographer Kate Murray was there to capture photos of the birth and of Whitney breastfeeding her newborn with her remaining breast.
For Whitney, the photos were a way to capture memories of a time period that ended before she was ready — the mother of three was only able to breastfeed Kal-El for two weeks before beginning a new, stronger round of treatment that would cause her milk to be harmful to her baby.
Now, those photos have gone viral, touching the hearts of many after Whitney’s midwife office, Gentle Birth Options, posted the images to its Facebook page.
The story has gained so much attention, and now Whitney is ready to share the story behind the emotional photos.
Kal-El is now 6 months old, and Whitney says she’s focused on spending her days doing the things she wasn’t able to do during her treatments. Having lunch with her daughter, Corah, 7, or enrolling her son, Phoenix, 6, in sports are activities that she was once too exhausted to do, but that she now cherishes.
She’s also been able to continue giving Kal-El breast milk, thanks to donated milk from other breastfeeding mothers in her community.
“There have been 27 women who’ve donated milk to feed my son. And he’s amazing — I keep saying God must know I want him on breast milk, because he’s not picky. He will take anyone’s milk,” said Whitney.
Since the birth of Kal-El, who is now six months old, Whitney has received the support of numerous women through an online community called Super Sarah Supporters and the GoFundMe page her supporters started to raise money for her medical bills. The money raised also covers the shipping costs of breast milk that breastfeeding mothers have been donating to Whitney.
Despite all the attention, Whitney is just glad she was able to share a beautiful moment with Kal-El and have it captured as a keepsake.
“For him to come out perfect and then know what to do and latch on, it was so important to me to be able to have that time with him,” she says. “I was just overwhelmed with emotion.”
Source:
mirror.co.uk, todaysparent.com, today.com
