Jennifer Lake was a 16-year-old student at Pocatello High School in Idaho when she started having severe headaches that came out of nowhere. Somehow she knew something was wrong and decided to see her family doctor and do a series of tests.
Her doctor ordered an MRI of her head when Jennifer learned she had a brain tumor. It was the most devastating news a teenager could hear. She believed her life was ahead of her and hoped to be happy and careless, but instead she had to struggle with a terrible illness.
At first, the doctors and her family informed her that the tumor was about 2 centimeters wide, but after a series of tests and other examinations, it turned out that the situation was worse and the tumor was more big. Unfortunately, the cancer had spread to other parts of her body.
Jennifer was told her chances of survival were slim even if she decided to undergo chemotherapy. She was also told that if she was successful, the treatments would render her sterile and she would no longer be a mother.
“Jenny asked them if she was going to die,” said her father, Mike Lake, a truck driver from Rexburg, north of Pocatello.
“We were told she couldn’t get pregnant so we weren’t worried about it,” her boyfriend Nathan, 19, said.
However, something unexpected happened and the couple learned that they were expecting a child. It made things different for Jennifer, whose biggest wish was to be a mother one day.
But that meant she had to make a tough decision. Her child’s life or her life was at stake. In case she decides to continue the pregnancy, it means that she has to stop the chemotherapy.
Jennifer’s mother, Diana Phillips, recalled the day her grandson was born and recounted how she held her daughter by the midwife’s hand and whispered to him: “I’m done, I’m done. did what I was supposed to do. My baby will get here safe and sound!”
Just six days after giving birth to her baby, Jennifer was discharged from hospital. Unfortunately, she only had six days to spend with her bundle of joy from the comfort of her home. When little Chad died, she was in his arms.
Jennifer was happy to have given birth and kissed her baby. You made the ultimate sacrifice and that says a lot about what mothers can do for their children.
Now, years after her death, Jennifer’s family is making sure Chad knows what his mother did for him and how much she loved him. Her story has touched the hearts of many since 2011 when she left this world.
There is a Facebook page dedicated to Jennifer’s life and journey, as people still pay tribute to her sacrifice.
