Nearly two months after her husband perished battling an Arizona wildfire as part of an elite group of firefighters, Amanda Misner has given birth to the couple’s son.
Sean Jaxon Herbert Misner, named after his father, was born on Aug. 22 at Yavapai Regional Medical Center East Campus in Prescott, Ariz. Sean Misner, 26, was one of 19 members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots firefighter unit killed battling the Yarnell Hill fire near Prescott on June 30.
“For everything sad we have posted last night, something joyous happened,’’ a post on Aug. 23 on the Sean Misner Memorial Facebook page read. “At 8:13 p.m., Sean Jaxon Herbert Misner was born. 6 lbs. 15 oz. 19 3/4 inches tall. Congratulations Amanda! We love you and the little guy so very much. Nobody could have been as strong as you needed to be through everything, except for you.”
The couple had originally picked out the name Jaxon for their son, but Amanda decided to name him after his father and his grandfather, Herbert Misner. The family plans on calling the baby Jaxon, and he is the first of three babies expected to widows of the men who died in the Yarnell fire.
Amanda and Sean started dating in 2010 and were married on Sept. 15, 2012, less than a year before he was killed. Sean found out on his 26th birthday in April that he was going to have a son, and a day later he started work with the Granite Mountain Hotshots, according to a tribute written by his family.
“The night before Sean lost his life he lay next to his son and spoke to him just so that his son could hear his voice, for the fear that his son would not know him, due to being out on fires,’’ the family wrote in the tribute.
The non-profit Sean Misner Memorial Fund has been set up to support his family, specifically his widow, and to start an education fund for their son.