The wife of a Marine killed in the Kabul airport attack gave birth Monday to the couple’s first child, a daughter, she and family members announced on social media.
Lance Cpl. Rylee McCollum, 20, a Jackson, Wyoming native, was killed by a suicide bomber while assisting the Afghanistan evacuation efforts on Aug. 26, East Idaho News reported. (RELATED: These Are The US Service Members Who Made The Ultimate Sacrifice In The Kabul Attack)
His wife, Jiennah ‘Gigi’ Crayton, gave birth to baby daughter Levi Rylee Rose at the Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton in California, according to the outlet.
“Welcome to the world, my sweet baby. I love you with my whole heart,” Gigi wrote on Facebook.
Family members told East Idaho News that Gigi and the baby are doing well.
“Levi is the most loved baby in the country right now,” Cheyenne McCollum, Rylee’s sister, told the outlet.
Gigi has been living on the base in San Diego, according to East Idaho News. She arrived in Jackson last week to bring her husband’s remains home and attend the public memorial held in his honor. Crowds of locals and tourists flocked the streets of Jackson, holding signs that said “Remember the fallen” and “God Bless our Hero.”(RELATED: Family Of Fallen Marine Honored With Police Escort In Wyoming Town, Video Shows)
Gigi went back to California on Sunday after the memorial, according to the outlet. Levi was born Monday morning.
The family plans to hold Rylee’s funeral in October, East Idaho News reported.
“Rylee meant a lot to this community,” Ben Arlotta, Rylee’s former wrestling coach, said in a previous interview with East Idaho News. “Really, the last reports of what went down in Afghanistan — it speaks directly to who that kid has been his entire life. He had the opportunity to come back on the other side of the wall and he said, ‘No we are going to stick around and save some more folks.’ And that’s exactly what he did and that’s the type of person Rylee is.”