Support Jeremy and Osia Bell

My name is Lois Whistance-Smith, and I am Jeremy’s mom. Jeremy and Osia were married on August 27, 2016, with the same hopes and dreams many young couples have. They were able to save for a house and then started planning for their family. Unfortunately, in the last two years, they have lost three children, Logan at three days old and two baby girls lost at 16 weeks. The pain of this emotional discovery of a gene mutation has had them struggling emotionally, physically, and financially through loss of ability to work and the desire to be able to heal together. This is their story.

Jeremy and Osia were thrilled to share the news that they were expecting at our Christmas dinner in 2019. At 18 weeks, they were excited to reveal that they would be having a baby boy. As they were driving around and sharing the wonderful news, they received a phone call that turned their world upside down. While performing the gender ultrasound, it was discovered that Logan had a Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia, meaning his stomach was pushing up through a hole in the diaphragm, which impinged on the space where the lungs and heart grow. They discovered this was serious but could be corrected with surgery after birth. At the next ultrasound, it was found that there was also a vascular ring which meant Logan's aorta split in two and wrapped around his trachea. This added to the concerns they carried through the rest of the pregnancy. Nevertheless, they were determined to face this journey with a fantastic team of doctors who set things in place to care for both Osia and their son upon his birth. During delivery, Logan was severely distressed and delivered by an emergency c-section. All this occurred under the stress of covid on August 20, 2020. Jeremy had to sit in the hall, helpless and alone, not knowing what was happening with his wife and child. Finally, he was told that upon Logan’s delivery, it was discovered that he had four additional physical defects which would require a more emergent surgery. Logan was rushed from the Royal Alexandra Hospital to the Stollery Hospital, where Jeremy rode in the ambulance with him. He was put into an induced coma to stabilize him while the doctors tried to figure out the best course of action. Meanwhile, Osia remained in the Royal Alex in recovery from his traumatic birth. As a family, we were helpless to be with any of them because covid rules meant we couldn’t. We couldn’t hug and care for Jeremy and Osia, and we couldn’t be with Logan. Jeremy was torn between where he should be, but Dr. McGonigle, Osia’s employer and father figure in her life, was there to care for Logan. He walked them through what was happening with Logan and gave them the strength and peace to let Logan go when he realized his health conditions were too catastrophic for him to survive. I, along with Osia's mom, had been granted special permission to come in to meet our grandson for the first and last time. Logan blessed us with the discovery that Osia has an AMER 1 gene mutation which was the cause of the birth defects he suffered from. Going forward, every pregnancy carries a 50% chance of the mutation being passed. They would have to wait another nine months for Osia’s safety to try again because of the emergency c-section. Osia did conceive in September 2021; as they were waiting for the placental biopsy results in December, she suffered a placental tear which caused her to deliver their second child, a little girl at 16 weeks, so too small to survive. Shortly after, they received the results from the placental biopsy that this little girl did not carry the mutation. Therefore, she would have been healthy. So much pain and questions about why this happened! Yet, with her heart desperately yearning to be a mother, they conceived again in April 2022. Osia’s hopes and dreams that this third child would be their rainbow baby were broken this past week when they were told their third child did carry the gene. On Friday, July 15, they had to say goodbye to their second daughter because the risk of this gene passing is too significant. It is hard to feel helpless as a mother watching them suffer so much! They have been struggling to deal with the repeated loss and care for each other and themselves, but they are hurting and need help. I have set up this GoFundMe to alleviate some of the stress and challenges they face. They need more counselling which their benefits will not cover. They both need time to heal with each other, but with bills to pay, they can’t afford to be off work together while they do so. Even after losing three children, they have not given up hope of having a family. I believe that the money raised here will be able to help them both with immediate financial needs as well as some of the challenges they will face in the future as they continue to pursue their goal of bringing a child home.