Terminally ill dad held toddler for one last time — hearts break as mom films him uttering 3 words his son would never hear again
Some moments pass unnoticed because they sound like usual. Only later do we realize they were carrying more weight than we knew how to hold. For one Louisiana family, a short exchange between a father and his young son, captured on camera, became a moment that would echo for a long time. Lachanae Pagano (@lanolamom) shared a reel on Instagram that shows her husband, Tony, speaking to their 4-year-old son, Linkin, saying, "I love you."
Tony, who was battling Stage IV rectal cancer, is calm and reassuring, his voice steady as he says goodbye. At the time, no one could have known it would be the last time Linkin would hear those words spoken aloud. “Knowing that was the last ‘I love you’ Tony would ever say to him out loud is something that still shatters me every time I think about it,” Lachanae told Newsweek.
Tony, 35, was not only a husband and father to Linkin. He was also dad to Anthony Jr., 13, and Leigha, 11. Lachanae shared that her husband passed away due to complications related to his cancer diagnosis.
Though he had been responding to treatment, hope unraveled quickly when pneumonia set in. Because the cancer had already spread to his lungs, his body could not recover. “The pneumonia caused everything to begin shutting down,” she said. “It was devastating and fast in a way none of us were prepared for.” Those closest to Tony remember a man deeply anchored in his family. Lachanae described a relationship that began with friendship and grew into something steady and protective. “We matched instantly and became best friends before anything else,” she said. “As a dad, he was everything I could have prayed for. He rarely said no, made sure we were always taken care of and loved our children with his whole heart.”
Saying goodbye was painful for all of their children, but the farewell between Tony and Linkin carried a particular weight. Linkin was too young to fully understand what was happening and too young to remember his father as healthy. “Watching all of our kids say goodbye broke me, but watching Tony say it to our youngest tore something deeper,” Lachanae said. In the weeks that followed Tony’s death, grief gave way to survival. Lachanae leaned on her parents, who stepped in when daily life felt impossible. “They handled the heavy lifting while I felt stuck inside a dream I couldn’t wake from,” she said. “My kids’ laughter kept me afloat, but my parents…I thank God for them every single day.”
More than a year later, the family continues to navigate life without Tony. His legacy lives on in nightly “I love you” rituals, in the kindness and protectiveness of their children, and in the future Lachanae is determined to build. “Every day that I keep going, keep loving, keep raising our babies and keep building a meaningful life -that is Tony’s legacy,” she said. According to research published in 'A Cancer Journal for Clinicians', cancer remains the second leading cause of death in the United States, underscoring how many families quietly carry stories like this.
The video shared online made people emotional. @lemonpepppa commented, "This broke my heart, sending you love." @taytay.mov felt it too strong and wrote, "No words but this moment that you shared hit me hard. Going to hug and kiss my daughter extra tonight." @moominallium went back to the past and commented, "he looked like my daddy in his final days. Praying for healing in your family."
You can follow Lachanae Pagano (@lanolamom) on Instagram for more lifestyle and parenting content.
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