A pair of grandparents have gone viral after they welled up with emotion when they had a surprise meeting with their grandson, who had spent the first eight weeks of his life in the NICU.
Timothy and Deborah Paree had no idea the surprise was coming when their son, Josh, walked into his living room and presented them with his child, Shai.
It had been a nervous two months for the family, as Shai was born prematurely, at 28 weeks and four days, and Josh and his wife, Ximena, were initially not sure if their baby was going to make it.
Over time, though, Shai got stronger and stronger – but because of hospital restrictions, only Josh and Ximena were allowed to visit him in the NICU.
One day, though, the couple from Tucson, Arizona, were given the news that Shai could be taken home three and a half weeks earlier than had initially been predicted.
Once those discussions had been had with the hospital, it became a matter of deciding on an exact day – a level of flexibility that Josh used to surprise his parents, who were eager to meet their grandson.
On Friday, May 27, that moment finally took place, with Ximena capturing their tear-filled reactions on video.
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After that clip was posted on social media, it soon went viral, with many users sending their well wishes to Josh, Ximena, and their family.
Josh said: “I felt whole. It felt like our family was finally together. It was a pretty special moment.
“I get people at work that have seen it making comments about it being on TikTok, and I’ve had friends I haven’t heard from in years also reach out because they’ve seen the video.
“We legitimately just recorded it for ourselves and family, but the response on our Facebook made us think maybe we should post to TikTok and it took off from there.”