Cancer-stricken mother and the incredibly emotional photo of her breastfeeding her newborn

• Sarah Whitney, 31, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 20 weeks pregnant with her third child, Kal El, who was born on April 21
• Before giving birth she underwent her first round of chemotherapy and had a mastectomy
• She was scheduled start another round of chemo and was only able to breastfeed for two weeks after Kal El's birth
• She hired a local photographer to capture the moment on camera
• Photos of Whitney breastfeeding Kal El went viral earlier this year 

A cancer-stricken Florida mom has opened up about photos of her breastfeeding her newborn son that went viral earlier this year.

Sarah Whitney, 31, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 20 weeks pregnant with her third child, Kal El, who was born on April 21.

Before giving birth, Whitney, who has two other children, 6-year-old Phoenix and 7-year-old Corah, underwent her first round of chemotherapy and had a mastectomy.

Whitney wanted to breastfeed her baby, but she was scheduled start another round of chemotherapy and was only able to do so for two weeks after Kal El's birth because of the potential harms of her medications.

Sarah Whitney, pictured here in April breastfeeding her son Kal El, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 20 weeks pregnant

So Whitney hired local photographer Katie Murray to capture the moment she breastfed Kal El - who shares a name with Superman himself, according to the Huffington Post.

In the photo, Whitney holds back tears as she pulls the baby close into her arms as he nurses. In another photo, her mastectomy scar is visible. 

She said she never expected the April photos to go viral.

'I know why those pictures mean so much to my family. I didn't understand why they meant so much to other people,' Whitney told the Northwest Florida Daily News. 'I guess it's that universal understanding of what it's like to do what's best for your children, to be around for them.'

Whitney said the months since Kal El's birth and her diagnosis have been filled with both grief and joy.

She said that it has been hard not being able to breastfeed her son, according to a May interview with Eglin Air Force Base, where her husband, Michael, serves as an airman.

Whitney (right) had to start a round of chemotherapy just weeks after Kal El (pictured center in his siblings' arms) was born. She said her husband Michael (left) and her two children, 6-year-old Phoenix and 7-year-old Corah, have been very supportive of her as she battles the disease

'Even with having been told the diagnosis and losing my hair... the hardest part for me was being told I would not be able to breastfeed for long, if at all, because of the potential harm the medications could cause the baby,' she said. 'That's the main reason why I really wanted a photographer there to capture [the moment].'

Whitney also suffers from depression. Her cancer medication, which she will have to take for the next ten years, interferes with her antidepressant.

But she said her family has been extraordinarily supportive and strangers have even donated breast milk for her to feed kal El.

'There's been a lot of heartache with things not working out the way we wanted, but I'm just soaking everything in and appreciating all the blessings we've had with [Kal El] being healthy,' Whitney told the Air Force base. 'We don't give up in this family. We keep going - that's what we live by.'


Source : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3279566/Cancer-stricken-mother-opens-emotional-photo-breastfeeding-newborn.html

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