Cleveland Browns’ Hakeem Adeniji Announces Stillbirth of Son 6 Days Before His Due Date: ‘Worst Moment of My Life’

Hakeem Adeniji is mourning the loss of his baby boy.

On Monday, Nov. 4, the Cleveland Browns player, 26, shared a heartbreaking video on Instagram as he announced the stillbirth of his and his wife Kayla’s first baby, son Semiu Zade Adeniji. In the candid Instagram Reel, the NFL star began to cry as he explained that six days before their baby boy’s due date, the couple discovered through an ultrasound that there was no heartbeat.

“It was the worst moment of my life,” Adeniji said. “Everybody that knows me knows how bad I wanted to be a dad.”

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On Monday, Nov. 11, Hakeem shared a carousel of pictures of the family of three from the moment they got to hold their son. In one of the photos, the NFL player holds baby Semiu in the hospital room. He also included a lengthy message written in the football star’s notes app.

“It’s been a little over a week since we lost our boy. There’s been, anger, sadness, and emptiness. The fact that he is gone has set in now and nothing can change that,” he shared. “I’ll never get to see him grow up, and he’ll never get to read his journal I wrote for him. I miss him and l’ll miss him everyday for the rest of my life.”

Later in the message he wrote, “This will be hard, but that’s life. Always has been and probably always will be. We appreciate all the prayers, support and well wishes from everyone it is much appreciated. I still want to be a dad more than anything else in this world, and he gave me that even though it was short lived. When and if I ever get that opportunity again I’ll never take a day for granted. I love my boy and he will live through us.”

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Kayla posted additional hospital photos of the family on her own Instagram, sharing her emotional thoughts in her caption.

“We lost our son. We had to say goodbye to the most perfect, beautiful boy I’ve ever seen. We will never ever be the same and we will never forget him,” she wrote. “He had a head full of curls and his daddy’s nose. The softest cheeks and big hands. He will always be my son and I will always be his mom.”

“He got us through so much this year and stayed so strong for us for so long. I will always remember holding him and smelling him. He was just perfect. Oh my sweet boy mommy and daddy will always smile when we think of you, I promise. Please look out for us my angel 🪽”

She added that her boy was born on Nov. 2, weighing 8 lbs, 4 oz and 21 inches, and that his due date was Nov. 7.

A few days later, Kayla posted a video of herself holding Semiu for the first time. “The moment I held him for the first time ❤️ I couldn’t believe how beautiful he was,” she shared. “I dreamt of seeing his face for so long. I dreamt of this moment for years. It just felt like he was taking a nap in my arms, he looked so peaceful.”

“Today, November 7th at 7:30am we were supposed to check into the hospital for a scheduled induction. We are choosing to use this day to honor our little boy and create our new family traditions,” she continued. “The Lion King was Hakeem’s favorite movie and he always talked about how he couldn’t wait to watch it with our son. So we will do exactly that and remember our brave little boy.”

“Until I can hold your hand again son, I love you.”