Oh my gosh, as if this story could get any sadder, news broke that the young Arizona woman who unknowingly passed cancer to her baby has passed away.__
Little Addison Cox is only the ninth baby since 2003 to contract cancer from her mother while in utero and will now face an uncertain future without the support of her mother. It's an incredibly rare occurrence and mom Briana was not even aware that she had cancer while pregnant with her baby girl.
Briana Addison, a Phoenix, Arizona area police officer wasn't diagnosed with the stage IV metastatic melanoma that killed her until a few weeks after baby Addison was born.
It really hard to think about this happening. Poor Briana was faced with a terminal diagnosis during the time when she was supposed to be celebrating one of life's most beautiful milestones and the new life she'd brought into the world.
And then came the heartbreaking news that Addison had cancer too.
"Doctors told us it wasn't possible for Addison to get cancer while Briana was pregnant with her, that's just unheard of," James Cox, Addison's father, told local CBS affiliate KPHO.
Baby Addison is facing a very serious diagnosis, stage IV cancer that has spread to her brain, heart, liver, and other organs. Her mom lost her battle to the almost always fatal disease on February 12th. It's just such an incredibly sad story, I can't even really imagine what I would do in the same situation.
But at least her family and friends are trying to turn the tragedy into a learning experience for others and spreading the message about the dangers of melanoma.
"There's got to be more information out there," Cox said. "People have got to understand it's not just spots on the skin." Cox said Briana would've wanted him to encourage protect themselves from the at times deadly rays of the sun with sunscreen and hats and to get regular check-ups.
They FDA is trying to raise funds to help support baby Addison's treatment but her prognosis is not good–doctor's are giving her about 18 months to live, though chemotherapy pills have seemed to help at least slow the growth of tumors in her body.
Images via CBSNews.com
