Grieving Mother Has Important Message

A local mother is mourning the sudden loss of her child. The News On 6's Jeffrey Smith reports she's speaking out with an important message for parents everywhere.

It's every parent's worst nightmare. Two weeks ago, Lori Rodrequez buried the three-year-old girl she adopted last year.

Lori says she was told little Eryka wouldn't last a week out of the hospital. Eryka had the world stacked against her. Now her parents want to inspire others with her story.

"The girls would always dress the same and now going into her closest and having two dresses, it's just Emma, it really sucks," said Lori.

Lori Rodrequez adopted Eryka last year, but she says a year of love made all the difference in the world.

"The nurses kept promising us, if you can get them home, they just flourish," said Lori.

Eryka was born with cocaine and methamphetamine in her system; she also had a genetic disorder that inhibited her breathing.

After seeing her fight for life in the hospital, Lori and her husband fought DHS to make Eryka their own.

"Everything we met was negative. She probably won't ever live long enough to get out of the facility; she probably won't live long enough to be well, she'll probably never be off her vent. We just kept getting negative, negative, negative," said Lori.

But in a loving home Eryka blossomed. After a few months, Eryka was off her ventilator during the day. She was off her breathing tubes, but after three years of fighting her little heart gave out one dark night.

"I just started yelling at her. I just started saying don't leave me, don't leave me, don't leave me," said Lori.

Lori says the silence is the hardest part.

"With the intensity that we fought every battle, is the intensity that we feel the loss of her," said Lori.

Now Eryka's legacy is a legacy of love.

"If it's on your heart to adopt a child, it's worth the work. And there's a way," said Eryka's father, Jeff Rodrequez.

"I still would not have lived one day differently. I wouldn't have lived one day differently," said Lori.

Lori and Jeff say even though this story has a tragic ending, they'd do it all over again in a heartbeat for all the joy that Eryka brought into their home.

The Rodrequez's say they're considering adopting another child with special needs.