Like so many newlyweds, Samantha and Chris Knapp were celebrating one happy milestone after another — their wedding, birthdays and the exciting news that they were expecting their first child.

The Middletown couple was planning to buy a home and grow their family when a devastating cancer diagnosis last August turned their lives upside down.

Now, Samantha, 36, is battling Grade 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer, while their premature son remains in the neonatal intensive care unit.

“Obviously this wasn’t the journey we wanted,” Samantha said tearfully. “And having him in the NICU for so long is definitely taking a toll on us,” she added.

The couple spoke exclusively with News 12 Monday about their medical journey and to thank a community that has raised more than $130,000 in a GoFundMe to support their family.

Samantha and Chris married on Halloween in 2025 and learned they were expecting their first child in March. But in her second trimester, Samantha’s health suddenly and rapidly deteriorated. Within three days, she lost movement on the left side of her body.

She underwent emergency brain surgery on Aug. 24, when doctors discovered a high-grade brain tumor.

“We had so many plans and then the train gets derailed like that,” Chris said while snapping his fingers. “All that matters now is my wife and my son.”

Three days after surgery, doctors delivered their son, Nico, by emergency C-section at just 27 weeks so Samantha could begin cancer treatment. Nico remains in the NICU on oxygen and a feeding tube. Samantha has completed 30 radiation treatments and her first round of chemotherapy, with more treatment ahead.

“We are just starting our lives and a family,” Samantha said. “We don’t know how much time we’ll get together.”

Before her diagnosis, Samantha spent 16 years helping crime victims and people with mental health needs. Chris, a Marine Corps veteran, has spent the past decade breeding and training dogs through his business, Von Wolfenfels K9. He has also partnered with local nonprofits to provide puppies to veterans and first responders. Now, Samantha is on short-term disability, which she says is running out, while Chris has stepped away from work to care for his wife around the clock.

Samantha says the generosity seen by the community through their GoFundMe has eased their financial worries, allowing them to focus on her recovery and their baby boy.

“We want to thank everyone who’s donated or shared or sent us well wishes because it’s been hard and we’re not even three months in,” Samantha said.

The dreams Samantha and Chris once had of buying a house and having more children have now shifted to making the most of their time together. Their immediate hope is that Nico will be healthy enough to leave the hospital in time for Christmas.

“We are praying he comes home for Christmas,” Samantha said.

Chris has been recording videos throughout their ordeal so Nico can one day understand what his parents went through. For Samantha, who is facing an uncertain future with a terminal diagnosis, those memories carry an especially heartbreaking significance.

“I want him to know … that I was here for as long as I could be here for him and that I love him and I never gave up,” Samantha said.