Teenage girl hugs boyfriend, 16, goodbye before his life support is turned off

A heartbreaking photo of a teenage girl embracing her boyfriend in a hospital bed before his life support was switched off is going viral.

Stephanie Ray, 15, gave a heartfelt goodbye to Blake Ward, 16, who was tragically caught in a rip tide while swimming in the sea near his family home in Wales last Tuesday. He and two teenagers were rescued by the coast guard and flown to the hospital shortly thereafter.

Doctors said Blake would never recover as his brain damage was too severe, so on Saturday the difficult decision was made to turn off his life support.

His girlfriend Stephanie shared on Facebook alongside the image that she couldn’t bare to leave Blake’s side in the days since the “terrible accident.”

“Today has been the hardest day for me and it will be a day I will never be able to forget,” Stephanie wrote of saying goodbye to Blake.

She described him as “a loving a caring person and would do anything for anyone,” adding that “Blake was someone special to me and we had something special and we will always have that.”

A GoFundMe, started by Blake’s parents libbie and Steph, has raised $8,198 so far. The funds will go towards funeral costs.

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