The day you welcome your first child ought to be a day filled with joy, love and happiness.
But for Crystal Matrau-Belt, it was a day of mixed emotions. While she brought a new person into her life, she said goodbye to two of those closest to her.
That’s because her fiancé Emil Skokan and her mother Peggy Nichols were killed in a car crash as they rushed to the hospital to be by her side.
The 24-year-old from Michigan reportedly went into labour at 39 weeks on Saturday. It was after her C-section that her stepfather broke the news.
Speaking to the Kalamazo Gazette, Crystal said: “Losing two of the most important people in my life at the same time as bringing a child into the world, it’s like happy and the most heartbreaking thing.
“I waited so long to be able to have a child, and to have a child but then have two things ripped out of my life, it’s just really hard to deal with and even process.”
Emil was driving himself and Peggy to the hospital but lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree.
“They were trying to get here,” Crystal explained. “They didn’t know what was going on, and a lot of medical stuff was happening. Their main focus was being able to be here because I didn’t want them to miss anything. They just wanted to be there for me.”
She also said that as much as it hurts, she can see Emil in her newborn son Jeremiah.
We can’t even imagine what she’s going through.
