Charvarius Ward is working through an unimaginable loss.
After the San Francisco 49ers player shared that his and girlfriend Monique Cook’s 23-month-old daughter Amani Joy died, Charvarius shared a heartbreaking message to social media.
Alongside a string of broken heart emojis, the 28-year-old simply wrote on his Oct. 29 Instagram Story, “I’m broken.”
And in a subsequent slide, Charvarius added, “My Baby. My Life. My Queen. My Heart. My Everything.”
The messages were shared at the same time as the athlete’s message confirming the passing of Amani, whom he described as his and Monique’s “beautiful baby girl.”
“She was the best blessing we could have asked for,” he wrote alongside a photo of Amani smiling. “And her joyous spirit made us smile from ear to ear. She taught us to have patience, trust, and a positive outlook on life.”
Because even in the devastatingly short time her parents had with her, Amani taught them to focus on the good.
“She overcame adversity at a young age and was always happy, lighting up every room with her smile," he continued. "Having the privilege of being her parents and seeing the world through her eyes has changed us for the better.”
And while noting he and Monique will forever love and miss Amani, he added, “She will forever be daddy’s best friend and mommy’s little girl.”
Charvarius did not share details about his daughter’s cause of death, however he has previously discussed how Amani—who was born prematurely and with Trisomy 21, also known as Down syndrome—battled heart issues early on in life, including a surgery after being born with two holes in her heart.
But despite it all, as Charvarius noted in March, “She went from heart surgery to the happiest kid I’ve ever been around.”
The sweet social media message was part of a post Charvarius shared to commemorate World Down Syndrome Day in March, in which the cornerback got candid about how he and Monique learned to navigate his daughter’s genetic condition.
“We couldn’t control whether she had Trisomy 21,” he wrote, “but we can control our attitude about it. At first we went through feelings of sadness & anger but those feelings transformed into pure joy as soon as we laid eyes on her. Amani is filled with pure joy & a contagious laugh. My baby makes me smile from ear to ear every time I see her.”
As he wrote, “Amani Joy Ward has been the best blessing I could’ve asked for.”