Bailey and Jacobey Severns were overjoyed to become a family of five earlier this year when they welcomed their third child, but the couple was left devastated after seemingly ordinary back pain led to a rare diagnosis. With two sons already—ages 7 and 2—Bailey, 25, and her husband, Jacobey, 27, couldn't be happier to expand their brood in February with another boy. Unfortunately, the newborn bliss was short-lived.
Jacobey had been struggling with lower back pain since October 2025, but Bailey told Newsweek that he "didn't think much of it" initially. He believed it was probably just a strain from his physical work, and he presumed he hurt it while "moving something heavy." Weeks after welcoming baby No. 3, Jacobey's back pain grew significantly worse. "In March, we went back and forth with doctors, but they didn't want to do anything because they did not think it was concerning," Bailey said.
"We really thought he had just pulled something at work. We didn't ever think this could be what it really is." Jacobey's pain worsened until it became debilitating. While he could still go to work, he was not able to do as much physically.
He also resorted to wearing a back brace, but that didn't seem to help. "It just kept getting worse. So finally one morning in early May, I had to call an ambulance because he couldn't move," Bailey said.
Once at the hospital, doctors performed an MRI and CT scans to figure out the cause of Jacobey's pain. Results showed lesions on his lower spine and pelvic area, but a biopsy was also required before reaching a formal diagnosis. Soon after, Jacobey was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic melanoma.
The Severns were distraught by the revelation, as they never expected that cancer would become part of their story. Jacobey underwent four rounds of immunotherapy to treat the melanoma, as well as four surgeries to stabilize his bones. "The first surgery was in June, and that was a spinal fusion from his mid to lower back," Bailey said.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
