FIRST ON WWAY: Heartbroken mother shares story of newborn’s death to warn others

CALABASH, NC (WWAY) — It was a typical night of watching Sunday night football.

A night that changed the lives of Haley Gavrilis and her boyfriend forever. Now she’s reliving it, to hopefully save others from the pain she is feeling right now.

“This is our way of remembering him the best we can,” Gavrilis said.

On November 26, Gavrilis says she and her partner, Carmine Martino, were watching TV in their living room. Their 8-week-old baby, Lucas, was snuggled on Carmine’s chest.

“We were watching a football game and he was on one couch and I was on the other. I fell asleep they were both awake and when I woke up I looked for Lucas,” Gavrilis said.

The next thing Gavrilis knew, she woke up around midnight. Both she and Carmine had fallen asleep.

She immediately began looking for their baby and woke up Carmine. That’s when they realized Lucas was laying between Carmine’s arm and the couch, not breathing.

The next few moments were a blur of a frantic 911 call and CPR.

Their baby was gone.

“I guess you don’t realize that you’re going to fall asleep. You know you’re sleepy, but you say to yourself I will keep myself up, I will stay awake. I’m holding the baby and then it just happens just like that, “Gavrilis said.

“It’s just a natural and comfortable thing and obviously you don’t plan on sleeping, you don’t plan on falling asleep. You don’t plan on getting tired. It’s just a natural comfortable way to sit with your child,” Lucas’s father Carmine Martino said.

Gavrilis says the point of sharing her story isn’t to place blame on a horrible accident, but to spread the message far and wide, to let other parents know that it can happen to them.

It’s a message that is getting out there. Two days after Gavrilis posted her story on Facebook, it has been shared nearly 37,000 times.

Gavrilis hopes to eventually work with parents of newborns to make sure they realize how important it is to not fall asleep with a baby in your arms.

“I just want everyone to hug their babies and their kids as close as they can because this Christmas is going to be horrible,” Gavrilis said. “I mean the loss of a child especially around the holidays now not having him here, knowing his stocking isn’t going to be filled. It’s heartbreaking and it shouldn’t happen to anyone else if it can be prevented.”

https://www.facebook.com/haley.gavrilis/posts/1643572822356466