A brave dad has made a miraculous recovery from brain surgery to be by his wife’s side to help deliver their fourth child.
Ryan Steinbeck, who lives at Cooroy on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast with his wife Astrid Schirnack, received the shock diagnosis before Christmas last year that he had a brain tumour.
The 43-year-old needed to have emergency surgery to remove the tumour on the right side of his brain caused by a category one meningioma, which causes a build-up of abnormal cells on the outer part of the brain.
But his surgery had to be delayed after Ms Schirnack was nine months pregnant with the couple’s baby girl.
Mr Steinbeck – who was suffering from severe headaches, nausea, and lost feeling in his arms and legs – was left unable to work or care for his family.
Doctors said he needed urgent treatment as his condition could result in a fatal stroke.
The tumour had become so large that it had forced Mr Steinbeck’s brain out of place.
Ryan Steinbeck (pictured right) made a remarkable recovery from emergency brain surgery to be by his wife’s (pictured left) side when she gave birth to the couple’s fourth child
Ms Schirnack feared her husband would not be by her side to help deliver their baby as he was scheduled to have his surgery on January 29 – the day Ms Schirnack was set to give birth.
The 34-year-old, who runs a business along with her husband of seven years, took to Facebook days out from giving birth to post an emotional message.
She said the past few weeks had been ‘stressful’ and the family were forced to turn to loves ones and the community for financial help to cope with her husband’s impending surgery and the birth of her chid.
‘We have been privately dealing with so much stress, grief and anguish over Ryan’s health and the timing of it all,’ she wrote
‘We’ve been busy trying to get our lives in order to help us through this time.’
Mr Steinbeck then underwent a successful surgery and made a remarkable recovery to return home the night before Ms Schirnack went into labour.
The couple welcomed their daughter Francesca Maria Steinbeck at their home on February 3 at 1.10am, two weeks after she was due.
Ms Schirnack said her husband went through a difficult period in the final stages of her pregnancy while he was fighting his health battle.
‘As a father and partner he went through a really dark time. [He] [s]aid he felt like a massive burden,’ she told the Courier Mail.
Astrid Schirnack (pictured) gave birth to her baby daughter Francesca in the early hours of February 3 with Mr Steinbeck there to watch his child arrive into the world
The father of four (pictured centre) was scheduled to have his surgery the day his wife was due to give birth
‘He had to leave work and could not show up how he wanted to as a man when usually he’s the most incredible partner, father and provider.’
Ms Schirnack said she was relieved when her husband walked through the door on February 1 around 11pm.
Mr Steinbeck had a brief stint in ICU and has some paralysis in his left foot as he looks ahead to months of rehabilitation following his surgery.
He was by his wife’s side when she went into labour after Mr Schirnack finished her morning swim at Noosa River on February 2.
She described the birth of baby Francesca as the ultimate rollercoaster ride but said the feeling of looking into her daughter’s eyes after she was born was priceless.
‘She’s our unicorn baby. She waited so that her dad could be there and she’s just been so gentle and easy and chill.’
Ms Schirnack’s mother Jo had earlier set up a GoFundMe page to help provide financial support for the family.
Some $11,000 has so far been raised, surpassing the $10,000 target.
Martha (pictured), from from Medellin, Colombia, is only 39 and says she plans to continue having children until her body physically cannot anymore