Mom Donated 131 Gallons of Breastmilk to Honor Her Late Son

Demi Frandsen, a mom from Omaha, has been grieving the death of her 10-month-old son Leo, as he passed away at Children’s Hospital and Medical Center. He was born with gastroschisis, which is a condition where there is no skin to pull over his exposed organs. Because of this, Leo spent his entire life in the NICU.

During this time, Demi felt the only way she could really help her son was by breastfeeding him. She pumped every three hours, and used a q-tip to swab the milk into his mouth, because he couldn’t digest much milk.

When Leo died at 10 months, she had pumped 17,503 ounces of breastmilk–which is 131 gallons. Incredible. She told Babble how important this was for her:

“I pumped every single ounce for him. He is the reason for all of this. But if he couldn’t have it, I am so grateful that other babies like him could benefit from it. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my Leo, and I know other moms feel that desperate love as well. I am glad I can help those moms provide for their little fighter. Other babies surviving from Leo’s milk is just another way his life has affected and bettered the lives of so many others.

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He was worth it. He was worth all of this. His life in 10 months was the best 10 months of mine.”

The fact that she did all of that is a true testament to the love she has for her son–and how precious life is, regardless of how much time we have together. Every moment should be cherished. And for other babies, Demi’s pumping is a gift. Tammi Martin, a Lactation Consultant with Children’s Milk Depot in Omaha, stated:

“With all that was going on in her life she found it in her heart to give to other babies. For our babies that are very small, for our sickest, tiniest babies whose mothers can’t provide the milk they need.”

I’m so glad people like Demi exist–the world needs more good-hearted humans in it.

Joanna C. Valente

Joanna Valente is the former Staff Writer at Kveller. Joanna is the author of Sirs & Madams, The Gods Are Dead, Xenos, and Marys of the Sea, and received an MFA at Sarah Lawrence College. You can follow @joannasaid on Twitter and @joannacvalente on Instagram.