NHL Star Erik Karlsson and Wife Melinda Welcome Daughter After Losing Stillborn Son Last Year
NHL star Erik Karlsson has welcomed his very own baby shark!
The San Jose Sharks defenceman and wife Melinda announced the birth of a daughter on Thursday, more than one year after losing their stillborn son.
Karlsson, 29, revealed the happy news on social media with a sweet photo that featured his wife holding the newborn in the delivery room, and the athlete covering his smile under a surgical mask.
“To my beautiful wife for doing everything in her power to bring our beautiful little baby girl in to this world, never have I met a more determined or stronger person than you,” he captioned the post. “It hasn’t been easy but after the rain finally our little rainbow arrived. Love you both more than I could ever imagine.”
A post shared by Erik Karlsson (@erikkarlsson65) on Oct 3, 2019 at 6:16pm PDT
The news came two days after Karlsson was scratched from the Sharks’ lineup, citing personal reasons, NBC Sports reported.
The team wished him well on Twitter, though, replying to his post with, “Congrats to you and Melinda! 👶”
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Karlsson’s bundle of joy comes after he and Melinda’s son, Axel Michael, was stillborn in March 2018 weeks before his due date in mid-April.
The couple, who married in 2017, announced their loss in a joint statement at the time that thanked the NHL community for their outpouring of support, and looked forward to the day they would “hold him again.”
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“At this extremely difficult time it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel but we know one day we’ll get there. We would like to thank everyone for the love and support we have received and also for respecting our privacy and the process we need to go through now,” the statement read. “We feel very lucky to be Axels parents. Even though he was stillborn, we know we will hold him again one day under different circumstances and the joy he gave us will be with us forever.”
