FitnessOskar & Healthy Mandy: Baby Rio (†) keepsake brings you to tears

Have to for seven months FitnessOskar and Healthy Mandy live with the loss of their child. Little Rio died in December 2022 at the age of only four and a half months from the extremely rare IPEX syndrome, an autoimmune disease. On 19.7. the couple’s son would have turned one year old. Despite the fact that they had to bury Rio, Oskar and Mandy spent the day in an extremely strong, enormously brave and unspeakably brave way.

FitnessOskar & Healthy Mandy: Baby Rio (†) keepsake brings you to tears

For Rio’s first birthday, the two influencers have come up with something very special. They both got a tattoo of Rio’s footprint on their forearms. Even if they had to say goodbye to their son far too early, he was “the best” thing that “ever happened to them”. In addition, Papa Oskar and Mama Mandy are sure: “We 3 will be connected forever”. After that, they dedicated their child to individual words that are very touching. Oskar would like to “do a lot of good things in the world” for his son, Mandy simply wishes to hold her child “closely in her arms” and “never let go again”.

But the little fighter, who died when he was only four months old, remains unforgotten not only for his parents. To commemorate their son, Oskar and Mandy invited friends and even the nurses who had looked after Rio at the clinic to their home. There was also a birthday cake for the deceased infant. A look at the boy’s grave brings tears. Countless flowers, toys and balloons adorn Rio’s final resting place. Oskar and Mandy congratulated their son with soap bubbles and felt very close to him in the cemetery.

FitnessOskars & Healthy Mandy’s dearest wish: A sibling for Rio

The influencer couple has had a desire to have children for years. It took a total of two years for Mandy to become pregnant with Rio. Particularly sad: Nobody noticed Rio’s life-threatening illness during pregnancy. Only when he was born prematurely on July 19, 2022 was there a suspicion of IPEX syndrome. Only about 150 cases are known worldwide, although the number of unreported cases could of course be higher. IPEX syndrome can only be cured by stem cell transplantation. In fact, a stem cell donor was also found for Rio, but the baby was declared brain dead during treatment on 12/9/2022, after which the equipment was shut down.

However, Mandy and Oskar are not giving up on their family dream. With the help of a fertility clinic in Istanbul, they want to get a sibling for Rio. However, this is anything but easy – they even need the permission of the ethics committee. Only boys can get IPEX syndrome, but girls can unknowingly be carriers, which was the case with Mandy. Little did she know she transmitted the terrible disease. In addition, Oskar has a translocation on his chromosomes. For this reason, Mandy and Oskar decided to have the artificially inseminated embryos examined for both IPEX syndrome and translocation. In the first attempt, the couple had only one healthy embryo left, unfortunately it did not survive. Mandy and Oskar want to keep trying. And are sure: one day they will be rewarded with a healthy miracle.