Does love have a heartbeat? Mother's decision to post pics of her stillborn baby online sees internet erupt with venom
"When I was done giving birth, it was silent. I wasn't screaming, I just laid there tired and just held my lifeless baby and cried."
These are the words of Zariah Jackson, who lost her child Jeremiah Kai on March 14, to stillbirth.
No words can describe what a mother feels after losing her child. The extent of the torture that affects the heart of the mother is immeasurable and unending.
In order to cope with the pain, Jackson, a resident of Melbourne, Florida, unlike anyone would imagine, did the unbelievable—she kept her stillborn child's memories alive by clicking pictures with the dead baby.
Sounds unbelievable? Have a look. But be warned, some people may find the following images extremely distressing
Although, Jackson claims that she chose to take photographs of her child not only for the obvious reasons but also to spread awareness about a health condition that afflicted her baby while he was in her womb.
Identified as gastroschisis, it is a birth defect of the abdominal wall where the baby’s intestines are present outside the body.
However, not many on social media were appreciative of the act as Jackson was intensely slammed for uploading the disturbing pictures, as many described it.
While some made an attempt to understand her pain, a majority chose to inundate her with hateful, disgusting messages which Jackson responded to quite scathingly.
She wrote: "My baby had every right to be shown off by his mother just like a baby who was living."
“I shared my story not for you all miserable negative a** folk to get on my sh*t but to simply show you how God will give you something in life that’s gonna make you or break you.”
The controversial photographs show Jackson holding baby Kai in the hospital shortly after his birth "when he was silent" as well as photos of the newborn in his purple casket.
"I posted a lot of pictures, not only to have memories but to show people the reality," Jackson, 17, told Mirror Online.
"Even though he is dead, I am still a mother. I wanted to share my pictures and my story to raise awareness of stillbirth," she added further.
Nonetheless, Jackson did admit that uploading those pictures was her outlet and means of getting over the loss she had endured, alone and unhappily.
But sharing the pictures helped her reach out to other mom's who have endured the same pain as hers.
“It brought on a lot of negativity but it helped me knowing I wasn't the only mother with no baby,” Jackson asserted.
This article has been reprinted from, and with permission, from The Daily Net