We've seen a lot of stories about parents making sacrifices for their children, but it's not often that we come across a story of someone making the ultimate sacrifice. To make that ultimate sacrifice requires the selflessness and compassion for another that could only be ingrained in a real-life superhero.
Ashley Bridges might just be that real-life superhero. When the mother from Menifee, California began having knee pain in 2012, she never could have prepared herself for what life was about to bring her.
After seeing several doctors and being told that the aching pain in her knee was simply arthritis or bursitis, Bridges tried to continue with her daily routine of loving her boyfriend Jonathan Caughey and raising her young son (from a previous relationship) Braiden.
But in October 2013, she was finally referred to a specialist when the pain became too much to bear.
“I had excruciating pain in my knee and my toes went numb," Bridges told CNN last week. "So I went to the hospital and they did an X-ray."
It was only moments, however, before Ashley would know the shocking truth of what was causing her knee to hurt so badly. When the doctors returned to the waiting room with her results, they informed the 24-year-old mother that she had bone cancer.
Bridges was diagnosed with an aggressive form of the cancer known as osteosarcoma, but it's the initial misdiagnosis that makes her so upset.
“I'm angry, but there's really nothing we can do about it now," she told CNN. "The doctor that I went to repeatedly and repeatedly telling him something wasn't right probably cost me my life. This is a very aggressive cancer. I could have had more time.”
The 24-year-old mother had to endure surgery to remove much of her femur and to replace her ailing knee, but that wasn't the biggest sacrifice she would eventually decide to make. It turns out that when all this happened, Bridges was already pregnant.
To survive the aggressive cancer, she would have to immediately undergo chemotherapy treatment, but to do so would most likely end the life of the baby girl growing inside of her. Bridges, however, never wavered in her decision to put off treatment until after her baby was born – a decision that she will likely have to pay for with her young life.
“They told me what would likely happen to Paisley, that you know, she most likely wouldn't make it and I just knew," she told CNN. "It wasn't a choice to me. It was like this is what needs to be done. She's first. I'm not going to kill a healthy baby because I'm sick. There's nothing wrong with her. Her life is just as important as mine if not more important. I mean as a mother my job is to protect my kids.”
If that's not the ultimate sacrifice, we don't know what is. Bridges would, in fact, delay chemotherapy treatment until her daughter Paisley was born this past July, but after the birth she found out that her cancer had spread all over her body. The mother immediately began chemotherapy after Paisley arrived, but her doctors are only giving her a few months to live.
“I am really pushing for Paisley's first birthday," Bridges told CNN. "This is what I do. I do October, OK, I just got to make it to Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving comes around — OK, let's just go to Christmas. Then Christmas comes and Braiden's birthday is in March, so I'm going to make it to Braiden's birthday. I'm just going to keep setting little goals for myself and we'll see.”
Ashley and her boyfriend were able to move their wedding date up to this past November and her 6-year-old son Braiden was able to walk her down the aisle. It's a small consolation for what Bridges will ultimately endure, but her amazing story of sacrifice will surely live on for a long time to come.
In the video below, you can see Bridges herself speak about her horrifying diagnosis and see just how strong she is to ultimately decide to give her life to save the growing one inside of her. It's an unbelievable story and one that you may need the entire box of Kleenex to get through. Ashley Bridges is, in fact, a real-life superhero.
Please SHARE this inspiring story of selflessness and sacrifice with all your friends and family. Stories like this can only help to bring comfort and inspiration for anyone also dealing with life-threatening illnesses.
