James Green had always wanted to be a father. He loved the idea of having a large family so when his wife was expecting with their eighth child, James could not hide his excitement. However, just 12 weeks after they welcomed Elijah, their eighth baby, life suddenly took a turn for the worst.
James met Cloe when they were teenagers and the two quickly fell in love with each other. Soon, Cloe was pregnant with their first child, Leo.
James who had always wanted to be a father was totally excited over Cloe’s pregnancy
The couple then went on to have their second child, Levi. At that moment, the couple decided to keep going and have a large family together. Their fifth child, Miley, however, was born with cerebral palsy.
So, they thought five children were enough and Cloe went to the doctor for a contraceptive implant
Surprisingly, Cloe became pregnant again and James said that it was fate.
“James said it was meant to be for us to have more babies,” Cloe said
Their sixth and seventh children were too born with cerebral palsy
Soon, Cloe became pregnant for the eighth time and nine months later, Elijah was born
Unfortunately, their big family never thought that something they had never imagined would become their reality after just 12 weeks of welcoming their recent family member.
It was like any other typical night. Cloe and James went to bed as usual. However, at 4.30 in the morning, James suddenly woke up and acted strangely. He sat upright in the bed. His body went full numb.
Suddenly, he stopped breathing
Cloe recalled her harrowing experience: “I wanted to scream and cry but knew I needed to keep calm.” She managed to call 999 and performed CPR on James before the paramedics took over. Sadly, James was later pronounced dead from hypertensive heart disease.
He was only 31 years old then
According to WebMD, Hypertensive heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death associated with high blood pressure.
It refers to a group of disorders that includes heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and left ventricular hypertrophy (excessive thickening of the heart muscle)
Cloe said: “I felt my knees go weak and tears poured down my face. Telling the kids their dad had died was just the hardest thing I have ever tried to do.”
“In the end, my sister explained their dad had gone to heaven to be with their grandad. The older ones began to cry”
Cloe said that James had been a very supportive and wonderful husband and father when he was still alive. Even though Cloe stayed at home as a full-time mother, James worked from home so that he could her with their eight children.
“He’d do the school run, then go to work at the café before picking the kids up,” Cloe said.
“Then he’d sit and play games and read until bedtime. He had so much energy”
Following her husband’s death, Cloe’s family and friends help her with school runs and the children. Cloe said: “Becoming the only parent of eight children at such a young age – when some of my friends are still partying and not even thinking of settling down – is daunting.
In my darkest moments I wondered how on earth I would do this without James, I felt lost
“But I had to do it. I love my brood so much I know I can do a great job for them in my husband’s honour.”
Cloe said that she will always miss James and that she was grateful for James to have his wish fulfilled – to have a large family
Their family and friends had raised more than $10,000 to renovate the family garden to give the children a nice area to play.
Now, Cloe has come to terms that she has to stay strong for the sake of her family
“I know I can do it, I am surviving on the support of my family and benefits that I have never needed before. My best memories are of James with the kids – he loved being a dad more than anything and has made me a strong enough parent to face this job alone”
“I make sure that when the kids feel sad we do something positive to remember their dad – like blowing up beautiful balloons and setting them free so they can float to heaven.”
