Tennessee paramedic faces double heartbreak after her new boyfriend dies suddenly, leaving the pregnancy she learned about days after his death to end in a stillbirth

A young Tennessee EMT faced double heartbreak after losing her new boyfriend and their baby just three months apart in two separate tragedies.

Abigail Young “Abby,” an EMT from Tennessee, was swept up in a whirlwind romance with Chad, a student at UT Chatanooga, ten months ago.

Abby, 24, and Chad, 23, met on Tinder and chatted online before exchanging numbers, connecting on social media and eventually making plans to meet in person. Chad invited Abby to visit him on campus in March – and she decided he was worth the hour-and-a-half trip.

“I was so nervous the whole way because I hadn’t met him in person before, but I was very excited because of our conversations that had taken place up to that point. I knew he was going to be a great person,” Abby said People.

The pair hit it off and in July they exchanged ‘I love yous’ and considered themselves an official couple.

Chad has a complicated background and told Abby about his desire to become a father.

The young lovers discussed their future together and drew up a five-year plan, and they decided to try for a baby.

“He said, ‘I’ve spent the last twenty years of my life alone. I’ve been doing nothing but working and I think it’s time to get my life going and I want to share that with you,'” Abby said . remembered.

But on July 27, tragedy struck when Abby received a devastating phone call from Chad’s mother.

Her boyfriend had discussed feeling unwell earlier that day, but assumed it was due to his hard work that day.

“I got a message from Chad’s mom saying, ‘Please call me,’” Abby said.

When Abby called back, Chad’s father answered and delivered the unthinkable news.

‘First he said [Chad’s mom] was having trouble breathing, so I thought they were calling me for medical advice, which family members sometimes do because I’m a paramedic,” she says. “And before I can say anything, he tells me, ‘Chad is dead.’

Abby was devastated by the news: she had lost the love of her life with whom she began to plan a life together.

But there was something else: the new couple had secretly taken pregnancy tests.

After Abby laid him to rest, along with Chad’s family, on August 2, Abby’s mother encouraged her to take a pregnancy test.

Unlike previous tests, this one was definitively positive.

“I just fell to the floor crying because that’s all he was talking about, how excited he was to be a father. And all I could think about was that I was about to have the child he wanted so badly, and he wouldn’t be here to see it.

“I was also happy to have a piece of him with me forever, but I was devastated that he wasn’t there to share it with me,” Abby said.

Just as Abby was getting excited about motherhood by shopping for baby supplies and preparing for a pregnancy announcement, another tragedy struck.

Abby’s boss noticed she wasn’t looking well at work and immediately sent the 24-year-old EMT to the hospital after testing her pulse and blood pressure.

‘I had tachycardia. My heart was beating 174 beats per minute, which is really dangerous. And so my lieutenant calls my shift commander and he says I have no choice, I have to go to the hospital immediately,” Abby shared.

During the examination at the hospital, the nurse could not find the baby’s heartbeat, which Abby Chad Jr. had already named ‘CJ’ after his late father.

An ultrasound confirmed that CJ no longer had a heartbeat – and Abby went into an induced labor so she could take the stillborn child home to bury with Chad.

She gave birth to the baby on October 25. “They made everyone in the room leave, so it was just me and my son.

“I held him as long as I could and looked over him and could see so much of Chad in this beautiful baby boy that we wanted so badly.”

Since the heartbreaking series of events, Abby has used TikTok to share her story and grief.

a GoFundMe An account was set up for her to help with medical bills and living expenses.

“I’m doing everything I can to keep Chad’s legacy alive and CJ’s legacy alive. And I hope this reaches people who need it so they can have someone to relate to.

“I want to raise awareness that these types of tragedies don’t always happen to people later in life and that it can happen to anyone,” Abby said.