Sondra Williams, wife of San Francisco 49ers tackle Trent Williams, announces her son was stillborn at 35 weeks

Sondra Williams, the wife of San Francisco 49ers tackle Trent Williams, said on social media that their son Trenton was stillborn on November 24th.

Sondra wrote on Instagram that it was “extremely difficult to process the saddest hello and goodbye.” She also said she lost Trenton’s twin earlier in the pregnancy.

“My heart is heavy. Being home without you in my arms has been quite an adjustment.”
“Knowing that I will never be able to watch you grow older along with your sisters filled my eyes with tears,” she said.

“I can’t even begin to describe how I felt leaving the hospital without you. Nor what it feels like to be home celebrating Thanksgiving without my baby in my arms. My heart is broken and my arms are empty. But I know you always will.” Be close to me and watch over me and your sisters. And for that my heart smiles with gratitude.

In the post, Sondra added that Trenton was diagnosed with Trisomy 13, also known as Patau syndrome.

According to the National Library of Medicine, trisomy 13 is a “chromosomal disorder associated with severe mental retardation and physical abnormalities in many parts of the body,” which can cause “heart defects, brain or spinal cord abnormalities, and very small or Poorly developed eyes can result in extra fingers or toes, an opening in the lip (cleft lip) with or without an opening in the roof of the mouth (cleft palate), and weak muscle tone (Hypotension).

Due to “multiple life-threatening medical problems” that can accompany trisomy 13, infants with trisomy can often die within the first few days or weeks of their lives, with only 5-10% of children with the condition surviving their first year of life, according to the National Library of Medicine.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Monday that Williams – who has missed recent games with an ankle injury – has spent a lot of time grieving with his family.

“This happened last week and he was at the hospital with her and got to meet him and say goodbye,” Shanahan said. “And then he had to cremate him on Friday, so he’s been dealing with that and working on it. But we’re all just trying to be there for him through all of this.”

Shanahan said that Williams would like to return to the field once he is fully fit and that the 49ers would offer Williams and his family all possible support.

“When you have to deal with tragedies like this, it’s hard as a coach, it’s hard as a friend, it’s hard as a family member, it’s hard for everyone,” he said. “But we spend a lot of time together and that’s the cool thing about being on a football team. Whatever you’re going through, good or bad, we go through it together.”

“And I like these guys because I like that they have that, they have a group of guys that they can go to, a group of guys that they could see every day. And you can never escape all of that sadness. But I think it’s nice that these guys have another way to get on the football field, connect with teammates and things like that.”

Williams is the second 49ers player this season to mourn the loss of a child, after cornerback Charvarius Ward announced the death of his 1-year-old daughter Amani Joy in a heartfelt social media post in October.