‘I’ve lost my baby girl’: Pangai Jr shares stillbirth heartache

In a heartbreaking loss, Panthers star Tevita Pangai Jr has revealed how he broke down at training when told his partner, Anna, had lost their unborn daughter.

Tevita Pangai Jr and his partner, Anna Inoke, have farewelled their “precious” baby girl after Inoke suffered a devastating stillbirth 24 weeks into her pregnancy.

Surrounded by friends and family, the couple held a funeral for their daughter, Georgia Lose Galilee Pangai, in Brisbane on Sunday, while opening up about the heartache of losing their first child earlier this month.

Pangai Jr, who had broken down at Penrith Panthers training when he was told the news, had left camp and had been by his partner’s side in hospital while she suffered the ordeal of giving birth naturally following the miscarriage.

Tevita Pangair Jr and Anna Inoke have farewelled their daughter Georgia Lose Galilee Pangai, after suffering a stillbirth. Picture: Instagram

“Don’t think anything can compare to the heartache of losing your own child, but we’re so grateful to our famili (sic) for all they have done to help us get through these past few days,” the couple wrote on Instagram on Sunday.

“We have felt so much love in spite of losing our little love. We miss you so much already our precious girl. Our Father in Heaven had other plans for our Georgia. We love you so so much! Till we see your sweet face again darling.”

Alongside a series of heartbreaking photos holding their tiny baby girl in hospital, the former Brisbane Broncos star wrote in a post – which was addressed to his daughter – how Inoke had told him that morning she hadn’t felt their baby kick, as she normally did.

“When your Aunty Mori told me the news I was with my coach and teammates and tried not to look distressed and stay calm, but all I could do was go back to my room shut the door and phone your uncle Moji and cry and tell him that I’ve lost my baby girl,’” he wrote.

Tevita Pangair Jr and Anna Inoke have farewelled their daughter Georgia Lose Galilee Pangai, after suffering a stillbirth. Picture: Instagram

“All I ever pictured in my mind was having you breathe on my chest for the first time, getting skin to skin, taking you to your first day of school, watch you and your mum play tennis and passing the football around with me in the back yard.”

“We plan and plan and plan, but our creator is in control, and we just play our part.”

“Be with mum always and me my little baby girl … May God ease our pain and anyone else suffering.”

The couple named their daughter after her grandmother, Georgia Inoke, who she was buried beside.

Inoke wrote that there will “forever be a hole in my heart” and thanked those who have sent them support.

Pangai Jr and his partner will rejoin the Panthers today and he will be eligible for selection this weekend.