Vanessa Crookes

Our family and friends have been walking in the March for Babies event for the last 11 years in honor of our son, Deklyn Ryan. It has been such an amazing experience where we have been able to remember our son but also support and celebrate with so many other families! In September 2014 while stationed in Germany, we welcomed our tiny son into the world. We had been referred from the military base to a German hospital where we could received the best care. They were amazing and did everything in their power for our family. In order for Deklyn to have the best chance of survival, they performed an emergency C-section. Unfortunately, he was quite premature and extremely small due to underlying issues including Intrauterine Growth Restriction. To everyone's surprise, he was born perfect in every way and fought for 9 days. The doctors did not expect him to survive the first 24 hours after being born. But gradually those 24 hours grew to achieve a 3 day milestone and then a 7 day milestone. By the 9th day, his little body could not keep up the fight any longer. We made the heart wrenching decision to turn off the machines and allow him to rest. He went to Heaven surrounded by all the love and prayers of so many people near and far. Those 9 days were a blessing to us and always will be. The time we spent in the NICU, the Ronald McDonald house, and even now in grief so many years later, are all part of a beautiful healing journey and a testimony of God’s grace, mercy, and love. We could have never made it without our faith in God, loving family, friends, and so many strangers love, support, and generosity. This is why we know that Deklyn would want nothing more than for us to give back and help others by extending the love of Christ to other families and babies in need. We walk in the March for Babies because we want to do help in whatever way possible to offer support and love to other families facing situations like our own. We want others to know that there is hope and promise in tomorrow!