An inspiration and a hard choice.

I met Jenifer Magliocco for the first time this spring at a meeting for Ethan's Walk for Wheels. The foundation that her family set up to help CT families with SMA is helping Ethan's family and helped set up the benefit. I knew some of their story. That her son had died of SMA shortly after coming home from the hospital. I could not imagine how difficult it was for them. thought that it took an amazing spirit to take that hurt and make something good come out of it. That is what they did. They created The Angelo James Magliocco Foundation

I was struck by the strength of Jen's faith and her bubbling personality. Today I read Jen's words telling of the struggles of her son's short life. I was moved to tears and thought I would share her story with you.

Even if we were able to get him onto the BI-PAP machine, it would only give him 2 months at the most.” My husband and I had already discussed what we would do in a situation like this, and had to make the toughest decision ever. We knew that we didn’t want him to suffer, and we knew that we did not want him to spend his last moments in a hospital. We put our son’s life in God’s hands and decided to take him home. He was still able to be on the oxygen, but there were no machines to monitor him, or to beep, or to drive us nuts. Also, Hospice was there to help us.

The next time I woke up, it was morning. I could feel that my son was still breathing, but he was a little cold. I told my husband and our parents that I had a strong feeling that little Angelo did not have much longer. I sat on the bed while holding him in my arms. We all took in every inch of his beautiful face. He opened his eyes for a moment and looked around at everyone. After his eyes met with mine, he closed them and took his last breathe. Our little boy was now our little angel with God in Heaven. We knew he was at peace and was now SMA free.

My husband and I feel extremely lucky to have had 7 weeks with our son. It's more than some parents have with their child. We would have done anything to have him with us longer, but we truly believe that God needed him more. Angelo James was sent to us for many reasons. He made us better people, taught us to love unconditionally, strengthened our bond with each other, brought our families closer, and strengthened our faith in God. Everyone has a purpose in life. We believe that Angelo's purpose is to help other children with SMA. It is now our job to fulfill that purpose through our foundation. Our memories of little Angelo will never fade and our love for him will last forever.

Read the rest of Angelo's story