Father-to-be dies day before wife gives birth to twins

NATIK, Mass — Loved ones and complete strangers are rallying behind a Natick, Massachusetts, woman whose husband died one day before she gave birth to their twin boys.

Dino Trubiano, 39, died unexpectedly in his sleep in his home early Friday morning.

His wife of nearly 10 years, Sue Trubiano, woke up to noises followed by a gasp from her husband as he slept. She called 911, but despite their efforts, first responders and hospital staff could not resuscitate him.

On Saturday, as Sue Trubiano gave birth by Caesarean section to two healthy boys, her friend, Karen DeVincent, set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the new mother and her infants.

Donors surpassed the $7,500 goal, raising nearly $40,000 two days after the boys were born.

"The outpouring of support from our community has just been completely overwhelming," Dino Trubiano's sister, Tara McDonald, told WFXT. "It makes me feel so good to know that I live in a place where people just do. They just do."

Tara and Dino's other sister, Denise Caulfield, went to the hospital Saturday to meet their nephews, Caleb Peter and Jacob Dino.

"It's an emotional roller coaster," Caulfield said. "We were adding to our family, which is obviously so exciting, but at the same time we lost an important member."

Although the boys will never meet their father, Caulfield and McDonald said they will grow up knowing who he was -- a loyal, genuine, loving man, who was overjoyed to become a dad after two years of trying with the love of his life.

"This was the happiest time of his life," McDonald said, "for those babies to be born and to see her be a mother and him to experience being a father."

Dino's family members are waiting for answers about his death - whether he had a heart attack or a seizure - and whether he had been at risk.

Dino had been the "embodiment of health," McDonald said, a daily runner and a vegetarian who never smoked and wouldn't even eat butter.

"We want to know why, but we also want to know if it's something that we have to be careful of for the boys as they get older or even is it hereditary for us or our children," Caulfield said.

Sue is expected to come home from the hospital on Wednesday, two days before her husband's funeral.

"She's a strong woman, and she's doing as well as she can at the moment," Caulfield said. "She is spending time with the little guys and taking strength from that."

Cox Media Group