Former NFL star Patrick Murtagh and his wife, influencer Hannah Orval, have announced the stillbirth of their son.
Key Takeaways:
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Patrick Murtagh is a former Australian football player, whose time in the NFL was spent with the Detroit Lions, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Denver Broncos through the NFL International Player Pathway.
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He is married to Australian influencer Hannah Orval, and the couple announced their pregnancy earlier this year.
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They experienced a heartbreaking stillbirth, which they shared on social media.
The Backstory:
Earlier this year, Orval announced her pregnancy on social media, detailing the first trimester for her followers. Her carousel included photos of pregnancy tests, shopping for maternity clothes, videos of Murtagh stroking and kissing her stomach, and her holding up figs and olives to show the size of their preborn baby.
She also shared a reel of gender reveals with their family, announcing they were expecting a little boy.
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Throughout her pregnancy, Orval expressed her excitement about welcoming a new baby. “Knowing confidently that god gave us a little boy because the world needs more men like his dad,” she wrote. “couldn’t feel more blessed in this next chapter because [I’m] doing it with my best friend and someone I know will give our children a life of love.”
She also shared that this little one was a rainbow baby, and that they had previously experienced a miscarriage, saying the “first piece of us” would always be missing:
Last year we were so excited to be having our daughter. Our first child, our first pregnancy. We also then simultaneously carried the grief of a missed miscarriage.
Unfortunately at our 12.5 week scan we were made aware her heartbeat could no longer be found. She had unfortunately stopped growing the week prior & I had shown no signs of miscarriage. My body had not told me in any way so we were utterly shocked by the news.
A different country, a new state, a new team, a new bunch of faces. Just us two to carry something so great. Timelines, decisions, surgeries, recovery, grief. It truely was a cruel experience and I want to give my heart to the many that face this.
To carry both life and death. It does something profound to you.
The Details:
Tragically, just a few days ago, Murtagh and Orval announced the loss of their little boy in a joint post on social media, sharing that he was stillborn. In another carousel, she shared photos of her son’s feet, and both of them holding their baby boy in the hospital.
While she did not disclose how far along she was, she did explain that her son was premature.
“Meelo Michael Murtagh, born into this big world early and sleeping,” she wrote. “[H]e will forever be the biggest missing piece of the rest of our story. to be a family for even just for a day was irreplaceable. childbirth, I would do it over again every day in every lifetime to meet him. we are absolutely devestated [sic], but forever our biggest achievement in life.”
She further shared a reel with moments from throughout her pregnancy, captioning it, “Memories to last a lifetime.”
Orval also posted multiple stories expressing her grief and loss
“To my baby boy, Meelo, I dreamt for a lifetime of being your mumma,” she wrote. “I’ll always be your mumma … Our day with you was both the most incredibly magical and utterly heartbreaking day, though forever grateful for it because I relive it every day. We were and always will be a family. I miss you more than I can even begin to comprehend.”
She further described childbirth as a sacred experience she would cherish forever:
The pain that we as mothers would choose to go through over and over again in every lifetime. Nothing could ever prepare you for the feeling of your baby touching your skin for the first time. Now I understand.
Though we are strong as mothers to bare [sic] these children, I could not have understood more in that moment the real power of who we choose to have kids with. Grief filled the room, loudly. The pain physically and mentally, but one thing that never wavered for even a moment was the strength of Meelo’s dad.
From the moment we stepped into that room he wiped my tears, he held my hand, he walked me to the bathroom, he warmed up my blankets, changed my bedding, stayed up while I slept, fed me… the list goes on. Because I was giving birth and because I was grieving .. all the time he was too but me and Meelo were never once left without his tenderness.”
I will be forever in debt to the man that carried us both through this world. Meelo would have been the greatest of men watching and learning from his dad.
The Bottom Line:
The loss of a preborn child, which is considered a miscarriage before 20 weeks, and a stillbirth after 20 weeks, is tragically much more common than many realize. It is possible that this is because many people have remained private about experiencing it.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in 4 pregnancies ends in a loss, and the bravery of couples like Murtagh and Orval for speaking and grieving openly about it helps others enduring it to know they are not alone in their grief.
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