James Green always wanted to have a big family. So when he found out his wife, Cloe, was expecting their first baby, Leo, he was on the 7th heaven. They quickly realized they made great parents.
Each time Cloe started to think another baby was out of the question, James would wink at her, smile and say, “Just one more Clo.”
James was born to be a father, he worked remotely so that he could help his wife, be there for his 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.”
He was energetic and seemingly healthy.
After they had their fifth child Cloe went to the doctor where was fitted with a contraceptive implant. But unexpectedly she got pregnant again, James said it was meant to be.
Cloe and James went on to have a total of eight children!
But just 12 weeks after welcoming their last baby, Elijah — everything changed, when one night Cloe realized James wasn’t breathing.
James woke up around 4:30am and was acting strange. He sat upright in bed, went into a “fit” and stopped breathing.
Cloe knew she needed to keep calm even though all she wanted to do was to scream, she performed CPR on her husband before paramedics arrived and took over.
Unfortunately, James died, he was only 31 years old.
As it turned out after the coroner’s test results hypertensive heart disease caused his death. When he shot up in bed and had a “fit,” he was most likely suffering from angina, or chest pain.
Hypertensive heart disease refers to heart problems that occur because of high blood pressure that is present over a long time. It is the leading cause of illness and death from high blood pressure.
James’ death was so sudden, Cloe became a widow at being only 27 years old, left alone with 8 kids.
“In my darkest moments I wondered how on earth I would do this without James,” she said. “But I looked at those eight little faces all depending on me and I knew I had to do this for them and for James.”
Cloe says the memories of James with the kids are what help her cope. “He loved being a dad more than anything and has made me a strong enough parent to face this job alone,” she said.
After James death, Cloe’s community raised over $10,000 to help her build an outdoor garden in which her children could play.
It’s impossible to imagine what she had gone through.
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