“We fought like lions and we won”
These are the precious words, 36-year-old, Elena Furlan, wrote to her child in a heart-breaking letter that has gone viral. But what makes this all the more precious, is that she penned it knowing she would never get to see baby daughter grow up.
Elena, from Tricesimo in North Italy, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour in the early weeks of her pregnancy but she refused chemotherapy which could have seriously harmed her baby. Australscope reports that at her first baby scan, she told doctors;
“How could I kill this tiny helpless baby. No, my child must live.”
(Images via Elena Facebook)
She gave birth to a healthy baby girl whom she named Maria Vittoria. But despite the doctors best efforts, Elena’s cancer spread, and she died in hospital recently leaving behind this heartbreaking letter for her 11-month-old daughter which has been translated from Italian:
“You chose me against all medical theory and against all odds … your faith made me believe that I was a special person. I love you my baby.”
“You and I, together, we fought like lions and we won. You have won everything.
“My love, since you’re here it’s like I have started living for the first time. I sometimes think how sad it would have been if you had never come, because before I never understood what living really meant, loving someone above all else.
“I love you my daughter, I love your smile, I love to sing funny songs without being embarrassed, I love to kiss you, kiss you forever, I love all your little steps and victories.
I love you infinitely.”
A brave and devastating example of how there is nothing stronger than a mother’s love.
