Devin McCourty honored his daughter during Sunday’s game
"A lot of emotions taking the field today."
As the Patriots took on the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, defensive captain Devin McCourty had been grappling with other emotions.
In a heartfelt post he shared to Instagram after the game, McCourty admitted that there was a time when he couldn’t even think about football, and instead was mourning the loss of his third child, Mia, who died on Sunday, May 24 after his wife, Michelle’s, pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth.
“A lot of emotions taking the field today,” McCourty wrote. “Back in May I didn’t really think about football all I could think about was trying to lead my family through the hardest time ever. God has pulled me and @dr_yimac32 through…And it felt great being back on the field with my guys ✊🏿✊🏿 thank you football 🏈 🙏🏿🙏🏿. Thanks to Yi, Lo, and Bray for the support today…. Daddy’s little Angel Mia 👼🏽 with me forever.”
Wanting to honor his daughter, McCourty wrote, “Daddy’s Angel. RIP Mia McCourty” in black marker on his red Nike cleats. He shared a photo of the shoes in his post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFGQfCUl-CZ/?igshid=1je7qubo4goo1
In May, Michelle McCourty shared the details of their pregnancy in an emotional note she posted to Instagram:
“I cry as I type this,” she wrote. “My pregnancy had resulted in a stillbirth at almost 8 months of being pregnant — at exactly 31 weeks 2 days, when we found out that the baby girl growing inside me no longer had a heartbeat after being completely fine the week prior at my last doctor’s appointment. We are so heartbroken. We are devastated. We are speechless. We are angry. We are sad. We are confused. We are numb.
“To make matters worse, after an emotional full 21-hour labor, I had to push out and deliver our beautiful baby girl who came out with the umbilical cord around her neck. We held our baby, wrapped in a blanket, cute as ever, looking just like our son Brayden when he was born, but she had no breaths. No cries. No movement. Doctors say they have no answers for why this happens. It just sadly does.
“I can’t explain my thoughts in the moment. My faith has always been strong, but it definitely wavered. I was so angry. So sad. I had to call on my most faith-filled friends and support systems to help me deal with this reality. To not allow my anger and hurt to cause me to lose faith altogether.”
Devin and Michelle have two other children together, a three-year old daughter Londyn (who wore a Patriots-themed game-day outfit in support of her dad) and a two-year old son, Brayden.
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