"She Was Hanging On For Daddy"

(CBS)  A ten-year-old girl lost her battle with brain cancer overnight, shortly after what turned out to be a last visit from her father, who's in prison on a drugs-related conviction.

It was, Jayci Yaeger's family says, her last wish -- to have her father by her side.

Jason Yaeger was escorted Wednesday from Yankton Federal Prison Camp in South Dakota to the hospice in Lincoln, Neb. where Jayci spent her last days. Jason was allowed to stay for 20 minutes.

It was Jason's fourth brief, supervised visit with Jayci since her condition worsened. Officials at Yankton had been refusing Jason's repeated requests for an early release to a halfway-house so he could spend more time with her.

Jayci's mother, Vonda Yaeger, told The Early Show earlier this month Jayci was "very scared. I think she's holding on for her father. ... She's very close with her father. She always has been."

On The Early Show Friday, Jayci's uncle, Ed Yaeger, told co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez that, on Wednesday, Jason "just got to tell her that he loved her and sit there and hold her hand and try to comfort her as much as he could."

Though Jayci was unconscious, Ed says the family feels she was aware of Jason's presence because, "Her breathing became labored. That was always our indication -- that, and tearing up and crying when Jason would be on the phone with her. Those were our two indications that she was aware of Jason."

Does Ed think Jayci was indeed hanging on for that one last visit from Jason?

"I believe that's what happened," Ed responded. "She was hanging on for daddy, and she got her daddy, and then she let go."

Ed says the Yeagers are very upset with prison officials, who repeatedly rebuffed Jason's requests to be with Jayci.

"We are not satisfied with their actions," Ed told Rodriguez. "Jason should have been here with Jayci when Jayci passed, and he wasn't, because they decided to just make decisions that I believe were unethical.

"Jason's debt to society is almost paid (he's in the last year of a five-and-a-half-year sentence). And all he wanted was just to be here by her side. He would have taken up the rest of his sentence afterwards. He just wanted to be with his daughter, that's all."

The Federal Bureau of Prisons has issued a statement saying, "The institution has taken unusual steps to be accommodating during this difficult time." The statement cites the four escorted trips and "additional phone calls to his family at no charge to him." But, it says, "fter careful review of the security needs of the community and the offender, the warden determined that a furlough (unescorted stay in the community) is not a viable option."

But reporter David Jespersen of CBS affiliate KOLN-TV in Lincoln says, "This was a request more for Jayci than it ever was for Jason. He wasn't asking to be set free entirely. He was just asking to be here with Jayci, and now is asking to be here with his other daughter, Shelby. As you can imagine, she's going through a very tough time right now."

The community has been very supportive of the Yaegers, Jespersen says, noting that, "We have had some e-mails saying ... the law is the law, he should stay there, but the overwhelming majority has been very supportive of the family. In fact, they're not only e-mailing our station, they're e-mailing the prison on a daily basis.

"They're also e-mailing any politician they could have to try to get something worked out. I talked with Sen. Ben Nelson's office, Sen. Chuck Hagel's office, the governor both here in Nebraska and South Dakota, and they all expressed that they received plenty of e-mails and many phone calls."

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According to CBS affiliate KMTV in Omaha, Neb.:

To help the Yaeger Family:

Jayci Yaeger Fund
Wells Fargo Bank
1248 "O" Street
Lincoln, NE 68508

Guardians Inc.
1701 South 17th Street, Ste. 1D
Lincoln, NE 68502
866.477.0822
402.477.0822

To contact the Yaeger Family:

C/O Yaeger Family
PO Box 5818
Lincoln, NE 68505-5818

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KMTV says on its Web site: "SWomeone is pretending to be a member of the Yaeger family, going to businesses and getting donations -- but it's all a scam -- and the family is upset. If you run across the person, call the police."

[hotmommaof5]

I cant believe how some people are so uninformed!! For openers had this man been serving time in a State facility he would have been out on parole by this time. FYI Feds you serve 85% of your time.Next for those that are so quick to be judgmental let me let you in on a little secret the Feds are like a dog with a bone if they EVER get a hold of you they don''t let go. Yes this man made a poor choice getting involved in drugs would it have made some of you feel better had he been a white collar criminal and for the so misguided you would be amazed at the things that you can go to Federal Prison for.

My heart goes out to the Yeagar family and how sad that he was only 4 months from being released do those that want to sit around and judge think that in 4 months he would have REALLY been a different person? He has had almost 5 yrs to pay his debt to society. It is so unfortunate that others want to sit and judge this man for his crime had this been your loved one I will bet the bank you would have been calling the Pope if you thought it would have helped the situation.

Instead of showing sympathy for this man who lost his child this has become a forum for judging those who make mistakes. What is wrong with you people?? It is unfortunate that it took this much press and pressure for the BOP to have a heart.

Bless the family and may Jayci rest in peace it is just unfortunate that her daddy couldn''t be there when she took her last breath...

[hotmommaof5]

I cant believe how some people are so uninformed!! For openers had this man been serving time in a State facility he would have been out on parole by this time. FYI Feds you serve 85% of your time.Next for those that are so quick to be judgmental let me let you in on a little secret the Feds are like a dog with a bone if they EVER get a hold of you they don''t let go. Yes this man made a poor choice getting involved in drugs would it have made some of you feel better had he been a white collar criminal and for the so misguided you would be amazed at the things that you can go to Federal Prison for.

My heart goes out to the Yeagar family and how sad that he was only 4 months from being released do those that want to sit around and judge think that in 4 months he would have REALLY been a different person.. Hello... he has had almost 5 yrs to pay his debt to society. It is so unfortunate that others want to sit and judge this man for his crime.. had this been your loved one I will bet the bank you would have been calling the Pope if you thought it would have helped the situation.

Instead of showing sympathy for this man who lost his child this has become a forum for judging those who make mistakes. What is wrong with you people?? It is unfortunate that it took this much press and pressure for the BOP to have a heart.

Bless the family and may Jayci rest in peace it is just unfortunate that her daddy couldn''t be there when she took her last breath...

[ahabdearab]

The first thought that came to me was this fathers activity caused his daughters cancer!!! I am tired of the addicts, stealing everything that is not bolted down and they even steal those items. They stole this precious girls life. They steal from every person that they come in contact with. They cause immense pain to those who know and love them. Chaos follows these people wherever they go. When you have a druggie in your family you have to learn that your actions either enable them to continue in their lifestyle or you develop strong love and put your foot down. Sure we are there to help when they hit bottom. Until they hit bottom and determine to get help and better themselves we only enable them. People, this drug making and usage is a killing disease. I have seen families torn apart and people die from it. I don%u2019t know how else I can illustrate to those that need to know this. And then we have the bleeding hearts, those people who can not stomach the tough love and the things that must be done to lead a druggie to the depth of despair! that place where the user falls so low that the only other way is up and out of the slime. The bleeding hearts would rather allow the usage to continue and mire more lives and kill more people with this insanity. Manufacturing illegal drugs should be punishable by death. Put a stop to this insanity.

[NeilSS]

Reallly? The father's drug problem CAUSED his daughter's cancer? ahabdearab, you are warped!

[gaye5]

MY goosh, with people around like sirbuttlust the world is doomed.
Yes the father did wrong, but as others have said here the little girl didnt.. she should not be punished, she was dying for goodness sake.... I dont care a fig about her stinken father, just a little girls wish to see her dad one last time and to have him hold her hand and frail body while she died..
the father can go to hell as far as I am concerned, and he might now feel what it feels like to loose someone that you love dearly, maybe he will be aware of the grief that he has perhaps caused other parents.

[gaye5]

The family said that the prison officers decided to just make decisions that she believed were unethical.

I dont agree with the lass not having her father by her side, but to say that the decision was unethical is really strange when the father constantly did what was unethical and didnt care about those he destroyed in the process..

And one would have to wonder if he was taking drugs when her mother got pregnant and if that helped to cause her cancer as drugs cause damage to the body and that includes the sperm...

[pfd572]

maxify55: you and your kind are what is wrong with society. So full of self-righteousness. This isn''t just a country of black and white laws, it (was) a county of compassion. This was never about the father, but about the little girl. She didn''t commit any crime, yet you wanted to punish even more than anyone who has committed the most atrocious acts. No one was ever in any danger from her father while he was visiting. And the system has a method for allowing these visits bases on extraordinary circumstances. I think this qualified. So don''t be ridiculous, this legal act act of compassion isn''t going to open the prison doors. This is the U.S., not some despotic, totalitarian country. Take your cold, smug, unfeeling self where your kind of RIGID belief system is applauded.

[cybergrace7]

Thank God he got to visit her some. Of course he was wrong. The CEO''s causing tens of thousands to loose homes won''t see a day in prison. Did her dad actually kill someone? If it was a non-violent crime, and he agreed to wear and ankle-bracelet and stay in a half-way house, he could of saved the state money and most importantly helped his daughter more than any amount of money. Prison is about making a lot of money for construction companies and guards. If the point in rehabilitation, they almost any study will show alternative to incarceration programs for nonviolent prisoners are a lot more successful. I''m tired to the US government piling trillions of dollars into programs based on ideology. Crime and drugs are a huge problem. Let''s stop them using evidence-based programs, and stop using all our tax money to fund crooked programs that hurt families.

[Netterz]

Sadly, the little girl ended up paying the ultimate price for her fathers crime. I doubt that any one would feel sorry for him, had he blown her up in his meth lab, and allowed him to be by her side, or the funeral. Children pay for most all of there parents criminal behavior. This case is no different. For all we know, the exposure of having the meth aroud her, could have caused her to develop cancer. Still feel sorry for him? I dont. 18 month old was just shot in her own home, over a drug deal gone bad, should we let her criminal parents out to see her? I dont think so.

[coronalu]

Why is everyone else wrong in this? This man decided to do something that was against the law, HE decided and as much as I feel for this beautiful, wonderful little girl, how can anyone fault even not allowing this man out. What if he was a mass murderer? Would you feel differently? Well, how many people have lost their lives as victims to the people that purchased the drugs involved with this father? How many people have destroyed their lives by what this man was part of? How about if it would have been your kids, your husband, your wife, your brother, your sister, your young son, your young daughter that this man was going to help bring deeper in this horrible world of drugs.

[ahabdearab]

When you are committing a crime do you really think about the people that love you? Apparently not