MIAMI \u2014 Joshua Jean thought his wife and best friend, Santina Jean, would be coming home to help him and their 10-year-old daughter finish setting up newborn Aniyah\u2019s side of the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was with me here when we built this crib,\u201d Jean said. \u201cSo this part of her means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Instead, the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue firefighter is mourning the loss of his wife after she died last weekend following a battle with a rare form of cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cLosing the love of my life and breaking my daughter\u2019s heart in the same day was very hard,\u201d Jean said.<\/p>\n
A photo taken before her death shows Santina holding and feeding the couple\u2019s newborn daughter, who remains in the neonatal intensive care unit.<\/p>\n
Jean said doctors waited until the baby reached a safe gestational age before delivering her and attempting to save Santina.<\/p>\n
\u201cFortunately, with a good team at Baptist, they waited to a good gestational age so that way they can get our baby and try to save my wife,\u201d Jean said. \u201cThey did great on both ends. Everything was on an uprise, but then the leukemia was aggressive, so it overwhelmed her eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family kept their battle private while close friends worked behind the scenes to create an online fundraiser for Jean. The fundraiser has raised more than $100,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe prayers was enough. And I know it\u2019s working to get us up every day after this,\u201d Jean said. \u201cI\u2019ll figure out the word I could put it into to tell you how much I appreciate that. But just thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Through the heartbreak, Jean said the memories he will hold onto most are Santina\u2019s smile, her laugh and the joy she brought to every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery day she laughed. Every single day,\u201d he said. \u201cHardest day, best day, quiet day. If we only said three words, it was a joke that made us laugh. So yeah, my laughing partner for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jean said he and his wife spent every day laughing together from December until her death last Saturday.<\/p>\n
He hopes Aniyah will be able to come home in the next few weeks. As for the fundraiser, Jean said he has not looked at it and does not know the current total, but said the money will help him spend more time with his daughters.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
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