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You’ll want to get your tissues out for this video of a man singing The Beatles' "Blackbird" to his dying newborn son shortly after the death of his wife.
A friend filmed Chris Picco performing for his baby (named Lennon, appropriately) at Loma Linda University Medical Center. Lennon was delivered through emergency C-section after his mother, Ashley, died in her sleep Nov. 8. He survived for four days, but the oxygen deprivation Lennon suffered before he was delivered was too much for the newborn and he, too, passed, according to ABC7.
Picco's wife would tell him that Lennon would move around in her belly when they listened to music. With everything that happened, he felt helpless, and playing guitar for his son was the only thing he felt he could do. He told ABC7:
“Your whole life just changes in a moment. I knew that was going to happen with the birth of my son, I just didn’t think it was going to be this soon. So it’s just been unexplainable and just completely overwhelming and all encompassing and shattering. … So I thought, I’m going to get my guitar; Ashley would want me to sing to my son and play to my son.”
Picco said he and his wife shared a love for music and that he had hoped to play music for their boy as he grew up. They had settled on the named Lennon before Ashley died.
Picco said he hopes the video will help others who are going through difficult situations. We didn’t make it five seconds through this video without tearing up:
A memorial service is being held for Ashley this weekend in Southern California. There’s a fund to cover the family’s medical expenses, which already has raised more than $60,000.
