Newborn twins, Mason and Hawk Buchmeyer, captured hearts across the internet after their parents posted a picture of them at just 11 days old. With a big smile on his face, Mason embraces his sick brother in the heartwarming photo. “It’s the first time they have ever touched and as soon as Mason felt Hawk he reached out for his arm and smiled this big,” the parents wrote in a Facebook post that quickly went viral.
Shortly after being born on Aug. 18, parents Brandy Guettler and Tommy Buchmeyer learned Hawk had a rare congenital diaphragmatic hernia. According to the Boston Children’s Hospital, CDH “is a hole in the diaphragm that allows organs from the abdomen to move into the chest.” He underwent over half a dozen surgeries to fix the condition, which left him with a hole in his diaphragm that allowed his organs to shift inside his body. “The whole ordeal is as bad as you can get,” explained the twins’ dad. “The doctors aren’t giving us false hope. We know it’s a long shot.”
Sadly, baby Hawk passed away just eight days later on Wednesday, September 7. The twins’ parents posted the following on a Facebook page dedicated to the boys after Hawk’s passing:
“Our hearts are saddened this morning as our sweet little man was called home to be with Jesus. He went very peacefully and we know he’s no longer suffering. Please give us some time to grieve and try to start the healing process”.
abcnews