Cleveland Browns Player, Wife Mourning Loss Of Stillborn Son
11/12/2024 11:04 AM
Cleveland Browns offensive lineman Hakeem Adeniji announced the heartbreaking loss of his stillborn son.
In a video posted on Instagram last week, Adeniji said he and his wife, Kayla, went for an ultrasound six days before the baby's due date when she couldn't feel a heartbeat.
"They put it on her stomach and we didn't hear anything. It was the worst moment of my life," Adeniji said. "Everybody that knows me knows how bad I wanted to be a dad."
Adeniji, who recalled the "long process" of Kayla getting pregnant through in vitro fertilization, asked for prayers.
"This is going to be very tough," he said. "We'll never forget him. We love him. He's going to live on in our hearts forever. He gave us so much hope."
Kayla called the baby, Semiu Zade Adeniji, the "most perfect, beautiful boy I've ever seen" and said they'll "never ever be the same" after the loss. Adeniji vowed that he and Kayla would get through this tragedy.
"There's been some rough moments, but there's been a lot of moments to be grateful for and we're just going to try and do what we can," he said.
Adeniji later shared another post captioned "better days ahead of us." He posted a photo of them holding Semiu along with a few lines from a journal he wrote for the child. The 26-year-old also shared a letter thanking people for their support.
"There's been anger, sadness, and emptiness. The fact that he is gone has set in, and nothing can change that," he wrote. "I'll never get to see him grow up, and he'll never get to read his journal I wrote for him. I miss him, and I'll miss him every day for the rest of my life."
Although he knows grieving this loss will be hard, Adeniji asked everyone not to treat him "any different than before."
"I still want to be a dad more than anything else in the world, and he gave me that even though it was short-lived," he said. "When and if I ever get that opportunity again, I'll never take a day for granted. I love my boy, and he will live through us."
