Cleveland Browns star Hakeem Adeniji shared an emotional video in which he announced the stillbirth of his son.
The 26-year-old NFL player revealed the heartbreaking news in a post shared on Instagram Nov. 7. At the start of the clip, he mentioned the series of health struggles he and his wife, Kayla M. Adeniji, have recently endured before discussing the heartbreaking loss.
“So this is just a brief update for, you know, people who are close to us and if we haven’t been responding,” he began after taking a deep breath. “It’s been a rough couple of months for us.”
Adeniji explained that he suffered an injury during the NFL preseason, which Sports Illustrated reported in August, and he had another health scare a few weeks later. He revealed he nearly collapsed and was taken to the hospital where he learned he had two blood clots in his lungs.
“Fortunately, I was OK. And everything was good,” he said. “We found out that I have to be on blood thinners for at least six months.”
He said he and his wife then returned home and started preparing to welcome their baby boy. On Nov. 1, the couple had a date night and his wife shared that she “didn’t feel” their son. They drove to the hospital and had an ultrasound.
“They put it on her stomach and we didn’t hear anything. It was the worst moment of my life,” he said as tears started to fill his eyes. “Everybody that knows me knows how bad I wanted to be a dad.”
He said the pain he felt in that moment was indescribable.
“We were six days away from having our little boy. We got to hold him. We got to spend some moments with him,” he said.
Adeniji added that the couple’s family and friends have been supportive. He also asked for prayers for him and his wife.
“This is going to be very tough. We’ll never forget him. We love him. He’s going to live on in our hearts forever. He gave us so much hope. It’s been a long process with IVF,” the athlete shared.
He said the love he and his wife have for each other will help them get through this unthinkable tragedy.
“It’s been a journey, but I know that he’s watching over us and he wants us to keep going. So we’re going to do that and it’s going to be hard. There’s been some rough moments. But there’s been a lot of moments to be grateful for and we’re just going to try and do what we can,” he said before ending the video.
On Nov. 9, he returned to Instagram to give an update on how he is feeling. The post included a photo of Adeniji and his wife cradling their son in the hospital.
“It’s been a little over a week since we lost our boy,” he wrote in an accompanying note. “There’s been, anger, sadness, and emptiness. The fact that he is gone has set in now and nothing can change that. I’ll never get to see him grow up, and he’ll never get to read his journal I wrote for him. I miss him and I’ll miss him everyday for the rest of my life.”
Going forward, he said he didn’t want the people in his life to treat him any differently because of the hardship.
“I still love kids and still want to (be) happy for all my friends in their good moments,” he said.
Adeniji continued, “I still want to be a dad more than anything else in this world, and he gave me that even though it was short lived. When and if I ever get that opportunity again I’ll never take a day for granted. I love my boy and he will live through us.”
In the caption, he simply wrote, “Better days ahead of us.”
His wife also posted a moving tribute for their baby boy. She uploaded a series of photos that showed her husband tightly holding her hand in the hospital. There was a picture of their son’s baby feet and another photo of the football player holding their boy.
“We lost our son. We had to say goodbye to the most perfect, beautiful boy I’ve ever seen. We will never ever be the same and we will never forget him,” she said in the caption.
She said their son had curly hair, soft cheeks, big hands and his dad’s nose.
“He will always be my son and I will always be his mom. He got us through so much this year and stayed so strong for us for so long. I will always remember holding him and smelling him. He was just perfect,” she wrote.
She also penned a message to their son, adding, “Oh my sweet boy mommy and daddy will always smile when we think of you, I promise. Please look out for us my angel.”
At the end of the post, she revealed their son’s name: “Semiu Zade Adeniji 11/02/2024 8lbs 4 oz and 21 inches.”
In a second post on Nov. 7, she uploaded a video of the moment a nurse placed their son in her arms for the first time. She said their son was beautiful and looked peaceful.
She shared that in honor of Nov. 7 being her due date, they started a new family tradition and celebrated their son by watching his dad’s favorite movie, “The Lion King.”
“Until I can hold your hand again son, I love you,” she said.
