I first posted about this not along ago. Here is the conclusion:
Girl Dies of Cancer After Dad’s Visit
CBS News
Posted: 2008-03-31 12:50:56
NEW YORK (March 28) — A ten-year-old girl lost her battle with brain cancer early Friday, shortly after what turned out to be a last visit from her father, who’s in prison on a drugs-related conviction.
It was, Jayci Yaeger’s family says, her last wish — to have her father by her side.
Jason Yaeger was escorted Wednesday from Yankton Federal Prison Camp in South Dakota to the hospice in Lincoln, Neb. where Jayci spent her last days. Jason was allowed to stay for 20 minutes.
It was Jason’s fourth brief, supervised visit with Jayci since her condition worsened. Officials at Yankton had been refusing Jason’s repeated requests for an early release to a halfway-house so he could spend more time with her.
Jayci’s mother, Vonda Yaeger, told The Early Show earlier this month Jayci was “very scared. I think she’s holding on for her father. … She’s very close with her father. She always has been.”
On The Early Show Friday, Jayci’s uncle, Ed Yaeger, told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez that, on Wednesday, Jason “just got to tell her that he loved her and sit there and hold her hand and try to comfort her as much as he could.”
Though Jayci was unconscious, Ed says the family feels she was aware of Jason’s presence because, “Her breathing became labored. That was always our indication — that, and tearing up and crying when Jason would be on the phone with her. Those were our two indications that she was aware of Jason.”
Does Ed think Jayci was indeed hanging on for that one last visit from Jason?
“I believe that’s what happened,” Ed responded. “She was hanging on for daddy, and she got her daddy, and then she let go.”
Ed says the Yaegers are very upset with prison officials, who repeatedly rebuffed Jason’s requests to be with Jayci.”
We are not satisfied with their actions,” Ed told Rodriguez. “Jason should have been here with Jayci when Jayci passed, and he wasn’t, because they decided to just make decisions that I believe were unethical.
Here is the full story.
I feel very sad for that little girl. I know that the tone of the story heaps blame on the prison system, but the blame lies squarely on the shoulders of the father. Being a father is an awesome responsibility. Through his incredibly selfish and short-sighted actions, this man denied any comfort he might of provided this sweet innocent.
Put blame where it belongs. Had this poor excuse for a man kept his nose clean-he would have been there.
I agree, the father’s criminal behavior is why he wasn’t there. It’s nobody’s fault but his. This story’s been grossly misrepresented as the “mean prison system” denying the little girl a visit from her father. In reality, the prison DID allow him to visit several times. What they wouldn’t (and legally couldn’t) do is release him early. I feel sorry for the little girl, but whose fault was it that the dad was in prison, and what about the damage he did to other people’s children by selling them drugs?
Its about compassion for the girl, not the father’s actions. The circumstances seem extraordinary enough to me to warrant every consideration for the child.
Yes,
The child was innocent, yet she paid for her father’s sin.
RIP little girl.
Look at it this way.
The girl gets some comfort for a couple of days or weeks.
The dad (the criminal) gets comfort for the rest of his life – years and years.
The victims of the dad get no comfort.
The guy has visited his daughter many times before.