CEDARBURG, Wis. — A Wisconsin family is facing an unimaginable tragedy as 29-year-old Amanda Patron battles an aggressive form of breast cancer while grieving the loss of their newborn son, who died just one day after birth.

Amanda was diagnosed with breast cancer in November. By the time doctors discovered it, the cancer had already spread to her spine, ovaries, liver and bone marrow.

“They determined it was stage 4, making it incurable,” said Chris Patron, Amanda’s husband.

Amanda was pregnant with their son at the time of her diagnosis. Due to complications, she had to give birth at just 25 weeks.

“We were able to hold him—me and the other grandparents and Amanda—until we removed the breathing tube and let him pass,” Chris said with glossy eyes.

Elijah Thor passed away on Tuesday, less than a day old.

Patron family

“It’s definitely been a long road, and as hard as it is for me, I know Amanda’s suffering even more, which kills me inside,” Chris said.

Watch: Wisconsin mom battles stage 4 cancer while grieving loss of newborn son

Wisconsin mom battles stage 4 cancer while grieving loss of newborn son

The couple also has a 1-year-old daughter, Maliyah, who just started walking — a milestone her parents have had to miss while spending time at the hospital.

Patron family

“I spend a lot of nights just watching her in the hospital bed, hoping that she’ll be able to have a conversation,” Chris said.

Now that Amanda is no longer pregnant, doctors can begin more aggressive cancer treatment.

“Hopefully we can have her last as long as possible…for the one [child] we have left,” Chris said.

The Patron family started a GoFundMe that has already raised over $17,000 in just a few days.

“It’s been received tenfold,” Chris said, smiling softly

However, that amount will only put a small dent in the medical bills Chris now faces after losing health insurance coverage. The family will also host a fundraiser at Sheboygan’s Pizza Ranch on December 17 from 4-8 p.m.

Pizza Ranch Sheboygan

Right now, Chris is taking things one step at a time, much like his daughter Maliyah, who resembles Amanda so well.

“She’s been in so much pain, and so strong. It’s the thing I’m going to tell Maliyah about when she gets older,” Chris said.

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FIRST ON FOX: A conservative law firm has filed two motions to intervene in separate lawsuits seeking to overturn Wisconsin’s congressional maps, arguing that imposing new districts now would violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

Last week, the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority ordered two three-judge panels to take up lawsuits alleging the state’s congressional map gives Republicans an unconstitutional advantage, as redistricting fights intensify nationwide ahead of next year’s midterms.

On behalf of a group of Wisconsin voters, the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL) filed motions to intervene this week, arguing the challenges are time-barred and that the newly appointed panel does not have the authority to overrule the state Supreme Court’s earlier decision approving the current congressional lines.

“Revisiting congressional lines this way, less than a year before the election, sows irreparable distrust in our country’s political process,” WILL Deputy Counsel Lucas Vebber told Fox News Digital. “We intervened on behalf of several Wisconsin voters to argue that overturning the current maps in this manner and imposing new ones would violate federal law and the U.S. Constitution.”

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WILL’s motions dispute the plaintiffs’ characterizations of Wisconsin’s congressional map as a “partisan gerrymander” or “anti-competitive.”

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“These claims are all meritless,” Vebber said, noting first that any challenge to the current map should have been brought when the map was adopted. “And on the merits, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has already determined that partisan gerrymandering is not a justiciable claim here in Wisconsin.”

Vebber said the lawsuits violate federal law by pushing for districts drawn to reflect statewide partisan totals instead of local representation, and by asking courts to assume a redistricting role the Constitution assigns to state legislatures.

He also argued that a court-ordered “mid-decade redraw” would violate the Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution, calling it “precisely what the U.S. Supreme Court has advised state courts not to do.”

According to WILL, these motions represent the fourth and fifth time the conservative law firm has defended Wisconsin’s congressional maps in court.

When the Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted the state’s current congressional map drawn by Gov. Tony Evers, D-Wisc., in 2022 following the 2020 census, WILL said that should have been “the end to the legal and political posturing until the 2030 census.” 

Instead, the group said that various organizations have repeatedly attempted to challenge the map using “a variety of legal theories.”

As redistricting battles continue nationwide, Texas recently filed an emergency petition with the U.S. Supreme Court after a panel of federal judges blocked the state from using its new congressional map, ruling that several districts were “racially gerrymandered.”

Meanwhile, California voters passed Proposition 50 this year, allowing the state to move forward with a new congressional map expected to create up to five Democratic-leaning districts, in what Democrats say is an effort to counter Republican-backed redistricting efforts in states like Texas.

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Missouri and North Carolina have already redrawn congressional lines, and states like Ohio are moving ahead with new maps as redistricting battles play out in courts nationwide ahead of next year’s midterm elections with control of the House and Senate, and Trump’s legislative agenda, hanging in the balance.

MILWAUKEE – We often see our troops in uniform, unaware of how much they physically train to serve the country.

What we know:

As with any test, the grade depends on grit, hard work and preparation. One Army fitness test shows just how demanding that preparation can be, with push-ups that recruits describe as especially humbling.

Tyler Choy, an Army National Guard recruiter, keeps score. He grades each exercise using age, gender and the amount of weight lifted, or the time needed to complete the task.

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Choy says recruits must score at least 60 points to pass each challenge, based on how heavy they lift or how fast they move.

“If you’re looking at maxing, you’re looking at 250 pounds. 60 points to pass the test, you’re looking at 140,” said Choy.

The training is meant to prepare soldiers for a wide range of real-world situations.

What they’re saying:

“To make sure that we have the endurance to reflect whatever our job is,” Choy said.

Those jobs can include responding to hurricanes, protests and voting precincts, sometimes in situations that carry potential danger. The deadly attack on Army National Guard troops in Washington, D.C., serves as a grim reminder of the reality of that work.

“I do know that, in the back of my mind, there’s a possibility that could happen, but I have the ability to serve and help other people and that’s what I decided to put above my own interests,” Choy said.

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Choy emphasized the importance of endurance and stamina when responding to emergencies or unexpected events.

“Sometimes, in the line of work we do, we need to react quickly and react with a lot of pressure and momentum,” he said.

Big picture view:

He helps build that momentum by training future leaders in the military, even before they ship out to basic training.

“You don’t need to pass this test before going to basic training, but the more we are able to help people prepare for it, the better chances of them passing at basic training,” Choy said.

And with any test, the goal is the same: to be ready to succeed.