'Our Hearts Are Saddened': Thousands mourn death of one of the viral 'hugging twins'

Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Thousands Mourn Death of One of the Viral 'Hugging Twins'
Days after a photo of Florida newborn twins hugging in a hospital went viral, the family is grieving the the death of one of the boys

FORT PIERCE, FL -- Days after a photo of Florida newborn twins hugging in a hospital went viral, the family is grieving the death of one of the boys who was born with a rare condition.

The boy's parents, Brandy Guettler and Tommy Buchmeyer have been extremely open and honest about their experience with newborn twins. They created a Facebook page to chronicle the journey of their twin boys, Mason and Hawk.

The world fell in love with Mason and Hawk when the Buchmeyer family shared an emotional photo of the twins touching for the first time. The photo, which shows little Hawk on a ventilator, received more than 100,000 likes and more than 28,000 shares on Facebook.

The twin boys were born Aug. 18 at the University of Florida Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville. Hawk was born with the rare condition, congenital diaphragmatic hernia or CDH, which is a defect in the diaphragm.

The Buchmeyer family continued to post updates on the twins. However, on Wednesday morning they posted their final update on baby Hawk which read:

"Our hearts are saddened this morning as our sweet little man was called home to be with Jesus. He went very peacefully and we know he's no longer suffering. Please give us some time to grieve and try to start the healing process."

Thousands of people have sent their condolences to the family.