KILLEEN, Texas — Losing a child is devastating for families, and not having a place to grieve can make that devastation even worse — that's where the Angel of Hope comes in.
”The statue is put together to represent children that have been lost,” said Anthony Mino, Director of AdventHealth Central Texas Foundation.
“Either through childbirth or later on in life. It represents children of all ages that people have lost.”
There are more than 150 Angel of Hope statues across the country, and the one now standing at AdventHealth hospital in Killeen is only one of six in Texas.
It's solemn place to grieve for parents like Fort Cavazos soldier Harley Fee, who helped get the statue installed after he and his former wife lost their daughter to stillbirth in April of 2020.
”It devastated both of us,” said CW3 Harley Fee, grieving father and Chief Warrant Officer 3 at Fort Cavazos.
"In a time frame of about 72 hours, we went from planning to bring home our child to having to figure all of this stuff out.”
This was a heartbreaking time that was made just a little more bearable thanks to organizations like Agle of Hope.
”After we found out about these organizations and what they did for us when we were in a time of crisis, that’s something that I want to share with other people,” CW3 Fee said.
They actually helped purchase the angel while other donations helped with the pedestal and the memorial wall with over 200 butterflies.
”We hope with the butterflies that we put that the butterflies will have a nameplate of a child and, that they can come and reflect and remember their child,” Mino said.
It's something CW3 Fee hopes will help families and soldiers like him.
”There are people on Fort Cavazos right now, their children that they’ve lost are in a different state and possibly a different time zone,” CW3 Fee said.
“We wanted to give back something to share with everybody else who are going through the same thing that we went through.”
They’re officially unveiling the Angel of Hope at 5 p.m. this Saturday, Sep. 16.
They also plan to expand this memorial because they know they don't have nearly enough butterflies on the wall.
They need the community's help, through donations, to make that happen.
