At just 23 weeks pregnant, St. Louis mother of three, Cara Combs, received devastating news: She had stage 4 melanoma. Knowing that treatment could risk the health of her unborn child, Combs chose to forgo until after she had given birth. But although Combs intended to go ahead with her treatment following her daughter’s birth, she unfortunately passed away before time.

For the Combs family, this past month has been a mixture of both happiness and grief. Although the family was able to celebrate the birth of their newest addition, Shaylin Combs, on Dec. 5, three days later Cara passed away. According to her doctors, the stress of the pregnancy and the cancer were too much for her body to take, The Daily Mail reported.

Although Cara knew of the risks associated with delaying her treatment, based on a Facebook post she had made just weeks before her death, the mother had every intention of going ahead with her treatment once she had given birth. In fact, she wrote of how she was scheduled to begin her immunotherapy a mere 48 hours after she tragically passed away.

Photographer Emily Lucarz of Emily Lucarz Photography recently shared images she had taken of the Combs family shortly before Shaylin’s birth. Shaylin was born at only 28 weeks (an average pregnancy lasts 40 weeks) weighing just over 2 pounds, but she is receiving the best care to ensure that she makes a full recovery. A complete timeline of what happened to Cara, written by her sister-in-law, can be found on Lucarz’s Facebook. The Combs family has opened a GoFundMe page to help ensure that the children are able to have as much normalcy during these difficult times as possible.

Shay
Baby Shay was born premature, but she is currently in good hands. Emily Lucarz Photography