Called a “miracle baby”, Brayden Ellison was delivered by emergency caesarean at just six months when his mother suffered a brain haemorrhage.
 
His mum, 21-year-old Kayla Katler, has gone to the doctor with a severe headache, and had been admitted to a California hospital when it was discovered she had a deadly blood clot.
 
Kayla had a seizure, and doctors were forced to deliver the baby three months prematurely. Despite their best efforts, Kayla did not survive.
 
Kayla’s death devastated friends and family, but Brayden has been a ray of hope. Kayla’s boyfriend, Derek Ellison has described his baby son as “the last gift she ever gave me.”
 
"'I have my moments of, ‘Why me?’” Derek said. “‘Why would we be brought together just to be ripped apart?’”
 
"I went into this looking forward to raising a son with Kayla and in one minute I became a single father.”
 
Brayden was born on July 21st weighing just 3 pounds, 6 ounces, and has been in the neonatal intensive-care unit ever since, where Derek visited him every day.
 
Finally baby Brayden is strong enough to go home with his dad, a moment of both joy and sadness.
 
“It’s really sad to know that she’s not the one bringing him home,” said Christy Katler, Kayla’s mum. “That’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
 
Derek is coping with the devastating loss of his girlfriend one step at time, but is happy about taking on his new life as a single dad.
 
“With the support system I have, there’s not a lot to be afraid of,” he said.
 

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