Lincoln, NE–Background: In 10-Year-Old Girl Dying; Mom Says Daughter’s Last Wish Is To See Her Dad, I discussed the heart wrenching case of 10-year-old Jayci Yaeger, who is dying of brain cancer and “has one final wish — to have her father spend some time at her bedside before she dies.”
On March 27, the father was allowed to take leave from prison to go see his dying little girl. He is in a federal mimimum security prison on a drug conviction.
The end to an unbelievably sad story. The poor girl. Her mother had said she was holding on so she could see her dad one last time, and maybe it was true–the day after she saw her dad, she died.
I’m posting this and then I’m going to give my little girl a big hug…
Jayci Yaeger Dies After Seeing Imprisoned Father
LINCOLN, Neb. — A 10-year-old girl has died, just a day after her wish to see her father was granted.
Jayci Yaeger’s imprisoned father, Jason, went to her bedside Wednesday — a visit federal authorities allowed only after being deluged with letters and phone calls from across the nation.
Jayci had terminal brain cancer. Her family had been pleading with federal prison officials in Yankton, S.D., to allow her father to see his daughter before she died.
On Wednesday afternoon, prison guards drove Jason Yaeger to a Lincoln hospice, where he spent less than an hour at her bedside. No one else was allowed in the room except Jason Yaeger, Jayci and the escorts.
Sources said Yaeger did leave the girl’s side to consult with hospice counselors and get some direction on how to speak with the girl about what she was going through.
Prior to Wednesday, the prison warden had allowed Jason Yaeger three visits to his daughter, but had denied requests for a longer furlough or an early transfer to a halfway house in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The warden told Yaeger it was not viewed as an extraordinary circumstance.
Letters and e-mails from across the nation have reached the Yaeger family and appealed to the prison to allow the man to see his daughter. The family asked the media to share their story with the hope of encouraging prison officials to allow the visit.
He’s scheduled to be released to a halfway house in August.
Yaeger asked President George W. Bush for clemency. Yaeger spent four years in a federal prison on methamphetamine-related charges. Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons would not confirm a visit took place.
Officials said they would only comment on a possible visit after a prisoner returned from a furlough.
On Thursday, Jayci’s mother described Jayci’s condition as minute-by-minute, saying the girl had gone into respiratory distress three times that day.