Happiness and sadness lie so close together

You can’t imagine what it’s like to lose your children, unless something like that has sadly happened to you as well. It’s incredibly difficult or even impossible to pick up the pieces of your life after something like that and go on living. Luckily, Chris and Lori managed to do it. They lost all three of their children in a tragic car accident…

Happy family
Little Kyle was celebrating his 5th birthday, together with his two sisters; 4-year-old Emma and 2-year-old Katie. Grandma Cindy was also there. They were all on the road towards a theme park and Kyle was excited about a zoo in the area. Everyone was cheerful and happy. The day flew past and when it was time to go back home, they all got back into the van. Soon, they got stuck in an huge traffic jam. Lori turned around to tie her daughter Katie’s shoe laces. That was the last time she would see her daughter smile.

Car accident
Suddenly a truck smashed into the van at high speed. Lori and her mother were unconscious immediately. The children were brought into the hospital, all heavily injured. When Lori’s husband Chris was contacted, he rushed to the hospital, but he was too late already. Emma and Katie had both passed away. At first, there was hope that Kyle would survive, but after a while the doctors told them that he wouldn’t make it. With extreme sadness in their hearts, they had to let the medical staff turn off the life support systems that were keeping Kyle alive.

Unbearable
The grief was unbearable. Chris and Lori live in an area with loads of families with children. Every time they heard a child laugh, they closed the windows and hid away in a back room of their house. During Halloween, they went away so they wouldn’t have to face the children that would be knocking on their door. Chris and Lori explained that on some days, suicide seemed like the only option. Yet they decided to stay alive and keep on fighting, and that they would never abandon one another.

Miracle
They also made another decision. Three months after the accident, they decided to try to have children again. Since the accident they had described themselves as parents without children. It was time for a change and they tried IVF. Miraculously, Lori became pregnant with not one, not two, but three children: two girls and a boy. Just like Emma, Katie and Kyle! A year after the car accident in which they lost Kyle, Emma and Katie, the triplets were born: Ashley, Elie and Jake. Chris and Lori explain that the triplets will never replace Kyle, Emma and Katie, but that they brought happiness back into their home and hearts.

Watch the video in which Chris and Lori tell their unbelievable story below.