Jessica Guedes with six months pregnant on her wedding day but on the ride over to the church in São Paulo, began to feel sick.
Jessica had been allegedly complaining about feeling dizzy with pains in her neck while en route, which made her family assumed was nerves about the wedding. Unfortunately, it was later found she was suffering from a rare condition called preeclampsia which affects one percent of pregnant women.
Jessica’s fiancé, 31-year-old firefighter Lieutenant Flavio Gonçalvez, was already at the altar at the time. A relative then ran into the church to say Jessica had passed out in the car according to reports.
When speaking with the Brazilian magazine, Crescer, the groom said:
“I was worried because I was waiting for her at the altar and she was taking ages to come in. A cousin of hers ran down the carpet and told me that she had passed out. I opened the car door and she was lying down but regained consciousness to talk to me. I said to her, ‘Baby, I’m here.’ She replied that everything was fine, but that she had a severe pain in the back of her neck. At that moment, I became a rescuer, as I have been for seven years with the Fire Department. I took her out of the limo, started first aid and asked for help from my firefighter friends who were there as guests.”
Jessica was then taken to a state maternity hospital in central São Paulo but due to the complexity of the case, she was then transferred to the private Pro Matre Paulista Maternity Hospital.
The mother had a stroke due to the preeclampsia as well as internal bleeding —- which meant surgeons were forced to remove the uterus, according to the medical report.
The medical team then preformed an emergency aesarean section to save the 29-week-old baby’s life. The young mother who had been declared brain dead, passed away after the operation.
The baby is currently in the neonatal intensive care unit and is likely to remain in the hospital for an additional two months.
The hospital said in a statement:
“At the moment, the entire Maternity team is prioritising the support, comfort and attention of the families of Lieutenant Gonçalves and the patients’ (by) helping them with all necessary measures.”
Reportedly, Jessica had been attending prenatal care, was healthy and had no signs of high blood pressure previously.
Flavio said:
“Jessica was a really cheerful person who loved life, an enlightened and strong being of light. I was so looking forward to becoming her husband and becoming a father. I will be strong and I will not weaken in the face of adversity. The love of my life taught me how to respect and treat a woman well so that I could learn how to take care of our daughter.”
After Jessica’s sudden death, Flavio found that his health insurance did not cover private maternity care but thankfully, after a few days friends, family as well as colleagues had set up an online funding page and raised over £20,000 ($24,700 roughly.)
Flavio continued, saying:
“I still can’t believe this has happened. It seems like I’m in a sad movie, and you cry, cry, cry, but leave the movie theatre knowing it was just a movie. However, in my case, the movie will never be over, and the suffering will go on forever.”