"You keep saying that everything is going to be OK,'" she told him. The impact, though, would be heartbreaking.įinally, Rapa could not take Edwin's sunny optimism in the light of such dire medical evidence any longer. Unplugging the machines would ease their son's pain, and they wanted that more than anything. These young parents were being forced to make a decision no one is ever prepared to make, asked to take the toughest step they would face in their lifetimes. It was nothing more than the feelings of a desperate father, and Rapa felt they'd reached to a stage in this child's life where they needed to make a rational decision not based on emotion. That answer wasn't good enough for her, because it wasn't based on logic or science. But Edwin was the one who kept saying, 'Everything is going to be OK. I was really struggling with whether or not I was being selfish, wanting my children so badly that I was willing to put them through anything. "He was in intensive care, on respirators, with all these procedures being done to him. "It was an extremely painful thing," she said. He'd been intubated for 122 days and she recognized what that was doing to him. She understood what the doctors were telling her and was tortured by the impact her efforts to keep her son alive might be having on him. Rapa had graduated from Holy Cross with a degree in political science and had earned a scholarship to law school. off of life support and, essentially, allowing him to die. That decision would mean taking Edwin Jr. Then, one of the doctors spoke the words that would haunt Edwin and Stephanie: You need to make a decision. If he did survive, it would be nothing less than a miracle. parents: The chance of his survival was close to zero. The doctors had a frank talk with the Worcester, Mass. Doctors had put the oscillator at maximum settings. He wasn't improving and was literally clinging to life. Four weeks after his birth, doctors believed they'd reached the end of the line.Įdwin was supported by an oscillator longer than any child had ever been at the hospital. He couldn't breathe without the assistance of a respirator. They were so small, they fit in the palm of their father's hand.īoth had severe respiratory problems, but Edwin Jr.'s issues were worse. They were tiny at birth, only 12 inches long and weighing but a pound and three ounces each. and his fraternal twin sister, Serena, were born 16 weeks prematurely. 29, 2006, the son of undefeated boxer Edwin Rodriguez Sr., one of the game's most promising super middleweight prospects, and his then-fiancee, Stephanie Rapa.Įdwin Jr. With every tick of the clock, Edwin Rodriguez Jr.
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