In the summer of 2020, James Alvarez still had so much to look forward to. He and his wife, Yesenia Aguilar, were expecting their first child together in just a matter of weeks. They'd even recently posed for maternity photos in anticipation of their baby girl's arrival.
But on August 11, 2020, his world was shattered in two when Yesenia was killed by a drunken driver as the couple took a stroll through their California neighborhood. In August of 2021, Alvarez honored his late wife on his daughter's first birthday. Recently, more than a year after the tragic accident claimed her life, James opened up in an episode of The Doctors about the pain of losing his wife, and what he had to say was simply heartbreaking.
During the episode, James spoke with plastic surgeon and show host Dr. Andrew Ordon.
According to the grieving husband, there's a lot of things he's had to come to terms with in the wake of the accident. But the hardest thing, he admitted, has been rationalizing just how "unfair" it all was — not only that he lost his wife but that it also forced his daughter, Adalyn, to be born prematurely.
"The way she came into this world … it wasn’t her time yet," James shared through tears. "She had more time to be in my wife, in her womb ... I feel like that hit me hard."
Another part that haunts James is the fact that he couldn't actually be present for his daughter's birth.
On the evening of the accident, James and Yesenia were walking down a sidewalk in Orange County, California, when an out-of-control SUV suddenly headed straight toward them. Authorities later identified the driver as 40-year-old Courtney Pandolfi, who was determined to be under the influence.
Both James and Yesenia were hit, but Yesenia's injuries were far more severe — and ultimately fatal.
Her lifeless body was rushed to the hospital, where doctors could quickly see it was too late to save her.
Still, they did everything they could to save the couple's baby.
Adalyn Rose was born via emergency C-section shortly after her mother was pronounced dead.
As James told Ordon, he'd always imagined that his daughter's birth would be a happy time.
"I wanted to be holding my wife's hand as she gave birth to our first child," he said. "I looked forward to those moments ... that was what I was excited for."
But instead, it was all ripped away from him in an instant, thanks to the apparent reckless actions of a stranger.
Watch the video to hear more from James Alvarez, and see how he's continuing to cope with his loss.
Source: cafemom.com
