Support for Emma Rose's baby Leo and family

My name is Allison Filippone. I am one of many friends blessed to have known Emma Rose. Sadly, Emma passed yesterday after giving birth to her beautiful baby Leo.

Emma and Torsten were over the moon to welcome baby Leo into the world. They live in a small town in Alaska where there are no hospitals. Emma and Torsten made all the necessary arrangements to get Leo here safely. A few weeks prior to Emma's due date, they travelled to Juneau to safely have Leo in the hospital there. In Juneau, they were able to spend precious time with family for Thanksgiving. Emma's mother also made the long flight to be with Emma during the birthing process. Emma went into labor and pushed and tried for a very long time, that's when doctors decided it was time to do a C-Section. The C-Section went well and Leo was born a beautiful, healthy boy on 12-6-2023. Emma was able to hold her brand new, perfect baby on her chest for a few hours. Those hours were so precious to Emma. Shortly after, circumstances took a turn for the worse. Emma suffered 4 strokes and was immediately air lifted to a larger hospital in Anchorage, Alaska, a 2 hour flight away. Torsten and Baby Leo had to stay in Juneau for another grueling 24hours before they would release the new born baby to go and be with his mother. Emma went through multiple MRIs to see what the next steps would be and they decided to keep her in a medically induced coma to allow her brain to begin healing. Over the course of the following days, she suffered 3 more strokes. 1000s of people everywhere were praying and rooting for Emma, but the damage was beyond repair and Emma ultimately passed. She was surrounded by the love of her life Torsten, her new baby, her sister, her mother, one of her best friends Halie, and other family members.

Emma was a joyful person. Emma had many best friends all over the world, because Emma loved hard and everyone loved her hard back. She was truly a special person who believed everything was good and she emitted that light everywhere. She was an explorer, an adventurer, and a peaceful soul.

The hardest part of all of this, is that this brand new baby boy will never get to know his beautiful mother, Emma Rose. Torsten, Emma, and Leo were about to have this brand new adventure and journey together and that has been stripped from Torsten and Leo. Torsten is a native Alaskan, and Emma and Leo were to be initiated into the tribe. This meant a lot to Emma and to Torsten. Life was tragically taken from this precious family.

Life in Alaska is not easy and it can be seasonal with work. It is also a challenge for any family with a new baby. It is going to be very challenging for a new father with a baby to raise all on his own. I pray as a community we can come together and maybe help ease his burden. His burden and heartbreak are heavy and if we could ease the financial part of it just a bit, I know Emma would be grateful.