For the NICU team who cared for and loved Théo

A message of life, love and sadness ahead.

Nima and I created this beautifully amazing little soul named Théo Atlas Taheri.

Théo came into this world 3 months early on July 27th, 2021 weighing not quite 1 pound, the smallest babe ever delivered at the hospital. He was one tough little dude from the beginning and showed strength and resilience like us and his medical teams didn’t know possible. Théo shared his magically feisty soul with us for 22 incredible days before he we had to say goodbye on August 18, 2021 as he left on his next grand adventure.

Nima and I are heartbroken and overwhelmed with sadness about the loss of our future with Théo. We had planned so many incredible adventures with him. We grieve that we never got to hear his laughter, see him smile, take his first steps, make his first friend or love his first love. We grieve that we won’t get to watch him grow, feel and discover his own journey, passions and interests into adulthood and we grieve that we won’t continue to see each other experience and grow into parenthood. We have both seen and experienced many amazing things in our own lives, but it truly would have been the worlds greatest pleasure to get to watch Théo grow up.

While we are sad about these things, we have also felt immense love. The love that we have for Théo came so hard and so fast it was overpowering at times. The love Nima and I have for each other also grew to another depth we didn’t know possible, a gift only he was able to give to us I suppose.

We will cherish the memories and be grateful for those tiny finger holds and squeezes as well as those inquisitive wide awake stares that made all the stress and worry worth it. The fact that we were able to have these moments and share those 22 days with Théo was something only possible because of the country and healthcare system we live in, and the incredible work of the team at the hospital including; the maternal fetal medicine specialists, labour and delivery team, neonatologists, respiratory therapists, paediatric surgical team, X-ray, lab and ultrasound teams, and by far we are mostly grateful for the NICU nurses who loved and cared for him and us as a family so deeply and so gently.

A few close friends have asked what people can do to help right now and there’s not much honestly. To our friends around the world, keep him in your thoughts as you go on your next adventure, or do a cheers to the amazing little human that he was and that he would have continued to be. Sending a photo so we know where his memory and soul have traveled to would be lovely.

For those still wanting to send gifts or flowers as we so often do in our culture, please instead go give blood in his memory or donate to the Go Fund Me here that Nima and I will use to put a gift together for the NICU team that gave us those indescribable 22 days with him. The gift of time we will never truly be able to repay.

In our hearts, souls and forever with us through life.

Théo Atlas Taheri

July 27, 2021 - August 18, 2021