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Partners
Two months after they got married, Jennifer (30) and Justin Hanks (29) received devastating news that would change their lives forever.
In August 2013, Justin was diagnosed with testicular cancer and soon after, underwent surgery to remove the tumour, People reports.
“We were devastated. He was depressed for a while. Cancer had taken so much from us. Our newlywed life, our marriage,” Jennifer said.
“We never gave up hope and never wanted cancer to stop us from living as normal as possible. We would have our bad days and cry and then pick up our heads and keep moving forward the next.”
The couple were determined to lead a normal life and immediately started planning for a family. They began the long IVF process as the cancer had affected Justin’s fertility by the time it was discovered, 9Honey reports.
“We didn’t want cancer to hold us back anymore, because that’s what it was doing. We wanted to choose that he would get better,” Jennifer told People.
“If he was cured of cancer five years from now and we never decided to have a family and it was too late we’d have regrets. We didn’t want [cancer] to control our decision to have kids. It’s what we both wanted.”
During most of Jennifer’s pregnancy and after enduring three surgeries, Justin’s health seemed to improve. However, when Jennifer was seven months pregnant, his health took a serious dip and doctors didn’t think he would live to see the birth of his sons.
Miraculously, Justin was in the room with Jennifer when she gave birth to their twin boys, Everett and Marshal Hanks on 10 April 2018, Evoke.ie reports.
“It was amazing. I felt like I was witnessing a miracle,” she said.
“I knew how badly he wanted to be here, so for him to get a chance to see and have that moment with his boys was everything. Now I can say he had that moment. I think that is going to help me move forward.”
Over the next few months, the family of four enjoyed their time together. All seemed well, until Justin died suddenly in his sleep on 7 July.
“It was a shock, even though he had cancer and he looked sick, we wanted him to live so badly and thought he would. It was hard and very traumatic,” she explained.
The mom of two says she’ll always cherish seeing Justin hold their sons for the first time.
