Demi Frandsen, an Omaha, Nebraska mom, is being hailed as an inspiration and hero to her community for an incredible feat of generosity:
She donated 17,503 oz., or 131 gallons, of breast milk to her local hospital in honor of her late son, who passed away at just 10 months old.
Frandsen spent months at the NICU at the Children"s Hospital and Medical Center after her baby son Leo was born two months premature.
Leo suffered from gastroschisis, from which he never recovered.
"There was no skin to pull over his exposed organs," Frandsen said, noting that "it was kind of a new case they had not seen before."
From the beginning, Leo had trouble taking in Frandsen"s milk.
It was one of the few ways in which his mother could feel like she was caring for him while Leo was covered in wires in the NICU, however.
"With a q-tip we"d put it in my milk and we"d swab his mouth," she says of Leo, who tragically passed away on October 22.
Frandsen and her family are still coping with his death.
"We"re still trying to figure out how to live a life without such a big part of it, a little piece of our soul," she says of the tragic loss.
"We miss our Leo," she laments, calling it ever-present.
"It"s not even day to day. It"s moment to moment."
Frandsen wanted to give back to the hospital that took care of her son for his entire life, so even before he died she started doing so.
She donated all the milk he couldn"t drink.
After he died, she kept up the effort, waking up every three hours to pump: "My final donation was 17,503 ounces, which is 131 gallons."
"So, a dairy aisle, basically."
Now Frandsen"s breast milk can go to babies developing in the NICU, just like Leo, and just maybe, nourish them to good health.
"He was worth it. He was worth all of this," Frandsen said.
"His life in 10 months was the best 10 months of mine."
Rest in peace, Leo – and bless his mom"s heart.
