A grieving couple have welcomed a baby boy into the world five days after their one-year-old daughter died when she contracted Covid.
Queensland toddler Ruby Grace Edwards tested positive to the virus on July 14 but the illness triggered a ‘rare auto-immune condition’ which caused her immune system to attack her brain.
It’s understood she developed Acute Hemorrhagic Leukoencephalitis (AHLE) – an inflammatory disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. She died on Sunday.
Her heartbroken father Steven Edwards shared a photo of his newborn son, Levi Grayson Edwards, who was born on Friday.
‘His big sister Ruby is watching over us as he was safely guided into this world,’ Mr Stevens wrote on Facebook.
‘Levi brings with him hope and light, a promise of happy times as we look to the future. We’re just in awe of him.
‘We’ve got a long road ahead of us but each day with him in our arms and Ruby in our hearts, it will get easier.’
The family of toddler Ruby Grace Edwards who died from Covid are seen with their newborn son. A stuffed rabbit with Ruby’s name embroidered on it can be seen nearby
‘We’ve got a long road ahead of us,’ Ruby’s father Steven Edwards wrote on social media of his family (pictured on Friday)
Mr Edwards shared a photo of his newborn son, Levi Grayson Edwards, who was born on Friday
Photos shared to social media show Mr Edwards with his wife and son at the Redland Mater Private Hospital in Brisbane’s south east suburbs.
A stuffed rabbit with Ruby’s name on it can be seen on her mother’s hospital bed.
Ruby was just two weeks shy of her second birthday when she became severely unwell.
Her death left her parents shattered as they prepared for the birth of Levi.
Ruby Grace Edwards tested positive to the virus on July 14 but the illness triggered a ‘rare auto-immune condition’ which caused her immune system to attack her brain
‘She fought long and hard but unfortunately, the condition was too aggressive, ruthless and relentless,’ Mr Edwards wrote on Facebook at the time.
‘Thanks to her treatment, we don’t believe she suffered any pain during her fight and was able to leave this world peacefully.
‘It feels like the world is falling apart for us right now
‘This is supposed to be such a happy time where our family would become complete but is now so broken.’
Mr Edwards said he and his family were all hurting and urged parents to hug their kids ‘a little tighter’.
He said despite dealing with Covid himself and sleep deprivation he wanted to be strong for his son.
‘I only have to hope there is another side, where this means something, where there is hope, where there is happiness and peace,’ the father said.
‘I want to get there so desperately, I want to shield our son from this, I want him to only know of love and joy.’
A GoFundMe page was set up to help the Edwards family move forward and is close to hitting the $30,000 goal.
Mr Edwards said on Friday after Levi’s birth (pictured): ‘Mum and bub are happy and healthy, resting peacefully’
‘Ruby was such a loving, caring little girl, always smiling,’ friend Sarah Watton, who set up the fundraiser said.
‘She touched the hearts of everyone she met and will be sadly missed by everyone who met her.’
Ruby is only the 14th person aged nine or under to lose their life after contracting the virus in Australia and is the youngest to die with Covid in Queensland.
Ruby (pictured) is only the 14th person aged nine or under to lose their life after contracting the virus in Australia and is the youngest to die with Covid in Queensland
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