Mom Sells Stillborn’s Crib At Yard Sale. 1 Week Later The Buyer Returns It Looking So Different

Expectant mothers are incredibly excited about their impending births. In most cases, everything works out great, and the new mom gets to hold her healthy baby. Sadly, though, there are times when things go horribly wrong, and that was the case for Valerie Watts from Cocoa.

According to Valerie, her pregnancy was perfect. Each time she went to see the doctor, she was told her baby was perfectly healthy. During the last few days of her pregnancy, though, she began to worry. She didn’t feel the baby moving as much as she used to. She thought maybe the baby wasn’t moving much because there simply just wasn’t much room left.

Sadly, the baby was stillborn. Valerie was devastated. Her son’s umbilical cord had pinched while he was in the womb, and he wasn’t getting the necessary nutrients. Her homecoming from the hospital was not at all what she expected. She went home to a fully furnished nursery, yet she didn’t have a baby. She named her son Noah, and she had a funeral for him. For months, she just left the nursery the way that it was.

Finally, she decided to have a yard sale. Valerie decided to sell some of her baby items, and the crib was out in the garage, though she didn’t really want to part with it.

When Gerald Kampala and his wife arrived at the yard sale, he started looking at the crib. After speaking with Valerie for a few minutes, she agreed that, yes, it was finally time to sell it. She didn’t know what else to do with it, and holding onto it just turned out to be more painful than anything else.

Gerald and his wife didn’t have children young enough for a crib. However, Gerald was into building benches using headboards and footboards, and he thought that he could make something amazing with this baby piece. Looking at the items for sale, Gerald’s wife noticed the small baby clothes alongside the crib, which made her wonder. She turned to Valerie and asked,

“How old is your son?”

Valerie gently explained to the woman,

“My son was stillborn.”

When Gerald got into the truck, his wife told him about Valerie’s son, and he knew right away what he had to do. About a week later, Gerald showed up at Valerie’s door. When she saw what he had with him, she was in awe. Gerald had converted the baby crib into a beautiful bench as a tribute to Valerie’s son, Noah. She couldn’t believe how kind this man was for doing this for her.

When Valerie received the bench, she posted a photo of it, including a caption telling the story of how she got it. When Fox 9 News saw the post, they asked if they could interview her, and she accepted. When the camera crew went out to her home, she showed them the room that was going to be her son’s. She still had mementos of her boy, including nameplates and his ultrasound photos there. She even had photos of her son after he’d been born. The photos were so sweet, and the baby looked just like he was sleeping.

During the interview, Valerie expressed her deep gratitude, saying,

“I could not believe that a stranger could be so kind to me. I had never met the man before, and he went out of his way to do something amazing for a grieving mother.”

The crew also went to interview Gerald to get his side of the story. Reflecting on that day, he said,

“As soon as my wife told me about Valerie’s son, I knew that I just could not keep the crib for myself.”

His hope was that his repurposed version of the crib would bring this grieving mother some joy.

“I wanted her to have something special so that she could always remember the son she lost so tragically.”

Valerie said she would never forget Gerald’s kindness, and she thinks of him and her son each time she looks at the bench.