A family says goodbye twice after Rebeca Hafen dies while seven months pregnant in Utah

 For one Utah family, a devastating loss has unfolded in a matter of days. Tyson Hafen is now grieving the wife he shared 14 years with and the newborn son they were supposed to raise together. Rebeca was about seven months pregnant when she was struck by a car during a morning walk near the family’s home outside Moroni, leaving her injured and setting off an unimaginable chain of events.

Rebeca was rushed to the hospital after the collision, but doctors could not save her. In an emergency effort to protect her unborn child, they delivered the couple’s son and moved him into neonatal intensive care. For a short time, Tyson and the family had reason to hope that the baby might survive, even as they faced the devastating reality that Rebeca was gone. That hope would ultimately give way to another heartbreaking loss.

The newborn fought for his life in the NICU, while his father and siblings waited for news about whether he could pull through. Eventually, the family learned that their baby had died too. Tyson was suddenly facing the death of both his wife and newborn son, while their children were left without their mother and baby brother. The family’s grief was compounded by how quickly one tragedy followed another.

Before the baby passed away, Tyson and the children were able to hold him, love him and say goodbye. Those moments gave them an opportunity to be together with the child they had hoped would become part of their everyday lives. Instead, the family had to say goodbye almost immediately after his arrival. For Tyson’s children, the heartbreak was especially profound: in a matter of days, they lost the mother they knew and the baby brother they had been expecting.

Tyson told KSL that Rebeca approached life with a sense of joy that made every day matter. “She loved every minute,” he said. Those words offer a glimpse into how her family remembers her, not only through the tragedy of her death but through the way she lived. After 14 years of marriage, Tyson is now left carrying memories of a relationship that shaped his family while trying to help his children understand a loss that is difficult to comprehend.

The family says they find comfort in believing Rebeca and their baby are together again. That belief cannot erase the pain of losing them, but it offers Tyson and the children something to hold onto as they confront the days ahead. Their faith and memories may become especially important while the family prepares to mourn two lives that should have continued alongside theirs. The emotional weight of that reality is difficult to measure.

Tyson now has to help his children navigate the absence of their mother while grieving their newborn brother himself. At the same time, the family is preparing for two funerals and facing the practical realities that come with such sudden loss. There is no simple path through that kind of grief, especially when a father must comfort children who are hurting while carrying his own heartbreak. Yet the family continues forward together, holding close the love they shared.

Now, Tyson and his children are left with memories, faith and the moments they were able to share with Rebeca and the baby before saying goodbye. The family has been asked to receive prayers, scripture and condolences as they face this chapter. Their story is a reminder of how quickly life can change and how deeply one grieving family can be affected by loss, while their love remains at the center of the memories they carry forward.