SPRINGDALE, Ark. — An Arkansas father shared a heartbreaking photo of his son comforting his little sister as she was dying of cancer.
Adalynn “Addy” Joy Sooter, 4, died on June 3 following a battle with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). She had been fighting the disease since November 2016.
The day before she died, her father, Matt Sooter, shared a photo on Facebook of his son Jackson comforting Addy. The emotional photo has since gone viral.
“A little boy should not have to say goodbye to his partner in crime, his playmate, his best friend, his little sister,” Sooter wrote. “This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. But this is the broken world we live in.”
Sooter said that Addy’s symptoms “progressed rapidly” before she died.
A celebration of life for Addy was held in Arkansas over the weekend with people from around the world watching live on Facebook.
Addy’s family asked that, instead of giving flowers, people donate to the Michael Mosier Defeat DIPG Foundation, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, or Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkansas.