Lamar Austin had to make a choice on New Year’s Eve – to goto work or to attend the birth of his newborn son. The New Hampshire man had missed the births of his other three children due to work. He knew he had to be there for the most important woman in his life – his wife Lindsay. The choice was clear in his eyes. Lamar told People, “I told my boss that I wanted to be there for my wife when she had the baby — she was more important. I wanted to do good by my family.”
Photo // Lamar Austin
Lindsay went into labour, and once the weekend was over, Lamar’s supervisor contacted him to tell him no longer had a job. Lamar was stunned.
“I couldn’t be two places at once. I had to be at the place where I thought I was most needed — with my wife, Lindsay,” Lamar said.
Lamar Austin had begun working at Salerno Protective Services, a private security group. He had begun working there several weeks earlier, and was expected to be on call at all times.
Jamal wasn’t terribly bitter about the situation, but rather optimistic. “Sometimes you lose something and you get something even better,” Jamal said. The Austin family was more than happy to start 2017 with a new family member.
Photo // Lamar Austin
After hearing about Jamal’s situation, Sara Persechino started a GoFundMe campaign to ease the financial strains of the Austin family. As a paid family leave advocate, Parsechino had only wanted the Austin family to care for their new baby boy. The amount of support the family has received from the general public can only be described as astounding.
The GoFundMe page reads:
“On January 1, Lamar and Lindsay Austin celebrated the birth of their son, Cainan – the first baby born at Concord Hospital in 2017. Unfortunately, attending the birth of his son cost Lamar his job… No one should have to choose between their family and their job. Welcoming a new baby to a family should be a joyous time.”
As the news continued to break out, several companies came to Jamal with job offers. Meanwhile, his former employer has yet to comment on the details of Jamal’s case.
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