Syracuse, NY -- Jenna Hinman's two-month battle with a rare cancer captured the attention of thousands of people around the world who prayed for her recovery and are now mourning her death. 
 
 Jenna Hinman died Monday afternoon after developing pneumonia on Sunday, according to the Prayers for Jenna Facebook page. She was 26. 
 
 U.S. Army Sgt. Brandon Hinman and Jenna Hinman were thrilled when they learned that they were going to have twin daughters. The couple, who were married in December 2010, was stationed at Fort Drum. Brandon Hinman is from Weedsport and Jenna Hinman is from Port Byron. 
 
 At 30-weeks pregnant, Jenna Hinman gave birth to Kinleigh Ann Hinman and Azlynn Mary Hinman by emergency C-section on March 3. Doctors immediately discovered she was battling stage 3 choriocarcinoma, a rare, life-threatening cancer. 
 
 Jenna Hinman and her premature daughters were taken to Crouse Hospital. The babies were cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit and Jenna Hinman was placed in a medically-induced coma and on life support. She was placed on the extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which worked as her lungs for 32 days. Doctors said Jenna Hinman's treatment was unprecedented and unorthodox. 
 
 Doctors slowly turned down the ECMO in early April. It was turned off on April 6. Jenna Hinman continued to receive chemotherapy and her cancer count slowly decreased, but Jenna Hinman remained on life support and was in critical but stable condition. 
 
 The twins remained in the neonatal intensive care unit for six weeks and were released from the hospital on April 17. The two-month-old girls are staying at Jenna Hinman's parent's home. Jenna Hinman's childhood bedroom has been turned into a nursery for the girls. 
 
 With every milestone and setback, the public was updated by the Prayers for Jenna Facebook page. Two of Jenna Hinman's close friends updated the page with Brandon Hinman's permission. The page has 268,000 likes and features thousands of messages from people across the country and around the world. 
 
 At 7:07 p.m. Monday, Jenna Hinman's followers received the update that Jenna Hinman had died. 
 
 "To Jenna's many devoted followers, today our hearts are broken. We are devastated to inform you that Jenna has suddenly passed away after a courageous two month fight against cancer," according to the update that was posted at 7:07 p.m. 
 
 Within one hour, 21,000 comments appeared on the post. 
 
 Alicia Dullen Heneka wrote: I'm so very sorry for your loss. This page has proved that strangers can come together and prayers are so amazingly strong. Although Jenna wasn't able to beat this she and her family are so blessed to have had the past 2 months as a family. Prayers to all. 
 
 Patty Genovese Wood wrote: So very very sorry for your loss. Our whole community, state and country has been saying so many prayers for you and your family Jenna. We will continue those prayers for your family and friends and your wonderful husband and those beautiful babies. RIP Jenna. We are all heartbroken 
 
 More than $167,000 has been raised on the family's GoFundMe page since it was created on March 11 by Jenna Hinman's uncle, John Warter. The military insurance TriCare will pay for all the family's medical expenses, but the funds raised will help offset travel and food expenses, as well has help support the family's needs in the future. 
 
 Thousands of the Hinman family's supporters took to Facebook Monday night to react to the news of Jenna Hinman's death. 
 
 Kri Jensen wrote: "Although never having met this family, you have all become 'family' as we prayed and waited and hoped. Offering prayers for all of you. My heart breaks too ... so I can only imagine how tough this is for all of you. So thankful her family has had this time with her, including her precious girls. Love and payers to you all." 
 
 Sarah Moses covers the northern suburbs of Onondaga County and Oswego County. Contact Sarah at smoses@syracuse.com or 470-2298. Follow @SarahMoses315 
 
 

 Jenna Hinman, a Syracuse, N.Y., mother who learned she had a rare placental cancer just after delivering twin girls last month, died Monday of complications of pneumonia, according to the hospital that treated her. 
 
 "We are heartbroken and our hearts go out to her family," Crouse Hospital spokesman Bob Allen told ABCNews.com today. "She touched so many people from around the country." 
 
 Hinman, 26, gave birth March 3 to Kinleigh Ann Hinman and Azlynn Mary Hinman by emergency C-section only to have doctors immediately discover she was battling stage 3 choriocarcinoma. The twins, who were delivered premature at 30 weeks (2 pounds, 9 ounces, and 3 pounds, 6 ounces, respectively), remained in the neonatal intensive care unit for six weeks, but today are thriving, according to her Facebook support page, Prayers for Jenna 
 
 Courtesy of Sarah Born 
 
 "Jenna did not lose her battle with cancer," her friends wrote on that page. "She beat the cancer in a way almost no one ever does. The type of cancer she had almost always claims the life of the child, not the parent. Jenna sacrificed herself to save her two children. She defeated the cancer before it ever hurt the two most beloved people to her in the world. She fulfilled her role as a mother in a way almost no one else could have. Her body took the blow and saved her children." 
 
 Since being discharged from the hospital's Walter R.G. Baker Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the twins have been living with their maternal grandparents while their father serves his military duty. 
 
 Mom fights for life with rare placenta cancer. 
 
 Prayers for Jenna/Facebook 
 
 Choriocarcinoma is a malignant form of gestational trophoblastic disease (GTD), tumors that involve abnormal growth of cells inside a woman's uterus. This particular kind affects only about 2 to 7 of every 100,000 pregnancies in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. 
 
 Choriocarcinoma is much more likely than other kinds of GTD to grow quickly and spread to organs away from the uterus. About one-quarter of women who develop this disease miscarry. 
 
 Hinman had been fighting for her life in a medically induced coma for the past two months as the rare cancer filled her lungs with tumors. 
 
 Dr. David Landsberg, chief of medicine for Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, told ABCNews.com in March that Hinman's cancer was serious but "curable." 
 
 Her husband, U.S. Army Sgt. Brandon Hinman, told ABCNews.com at the time, "We're hanging in there," as his wife endured chemotherapy and ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation therapy. Hinman is stationed at Fort Drum in Watertown, N.Y. 
 
 "She's probably the most kind-hearted person I ever met," Hinman said of his wife. "She would go out of her way for anyone, give them the shirt off her back." 
 
 The couple had difficulty getting pregnant because of his multiple deployments to Europe and Afghanistan. "We never had a solid amount of time together," he said. 
 
 But just before another deployment, they got the good news. "I got to stay back," he said. "It was amazing." 
 
 Just last weekend, Syracuse photographer Sarah Born did a photo shoot of the Hinman twins with their father and grandparents. Jenna Hinman was unable to attend, but helped Born select the theme for the shoot, choosing a pink backdrop for one, as it was her favorite color. 
 
 Another photo incorporated peach, the color for choriocarcinoma, and a third was against the U.S. flag, a nod to the family's patriotism. 
 
 Updates on Jenna Hinman's progress had been positive, but the family posted an urgent update to their Facebook page Sunday to say that her condition was deteriorating. 
 
 Friends who are running the page called for an emergency prayer request. 
 
 "Her vital signs have become unstable over the past 12 hours and her ventilator has been turned all the way up," they wrote. "There is speculation of infection and/or internal bleeding," according to the update posted at 10:53 a.m. Sunday. 
 
 They posted that night that she had developed pneumonia. 
 
 "Jenna is now on powerful medication to fight this infection and we will keep you updated as often as possible," the update stated. "Please continue to pray that Jenna's lungs will clear and heal quickly. Jenna's condition tonight is fragile and critical - she has fought valiantly thus far, and we truly believe she has a lot of fight left in her still." 
 
 The Syracuse Post-Standard, in an editorial today, wrote, "Thousands upon thousands" of people around the country rallied for the Hinmans. 
 
 "They sent messages of hope and inspiration," according to the piece. "They donated money. Many cried at Monday's news that Jenna had died. We didn't know her, but her story touched the essential fiber that makes us human, makes us care for those beset by troubles we can't imagine. Here, in the happiest moment of a family's life together, the birth of children, comes the saddest news of all." 
 
 The family has a GoFundMe. fund set up to raise money for their expenses associated with the ordeal. 

 So how does one take in the sad story of the death of Jenna Hinman? 
 
 How does a wonderful story about the birth of twins become one of such anguish? 
 
 How does one make sense of the senseless? 
 
 Jenna Hinman was 26 when she died Monday afternoon, succumbing to pneumonia at Crouse Hospital in Syracuse. She died after a brief fight against a rare cancer, one linked to her pregnancy. 
 
 She died after doctors performed cesarean section at 30 weeks to save the lives of two beautiful babies, who now are held in the arms of their loving father, U.S. Army Sgt. Brandon Hinman. It was during that procedure that the cancer was discovered. It was an aggressive beast, called choriocarcinoma, that grew in her uterus. 
 
 Thousands upon thousands rallied for Jenna. They sent messages of hope and inspiration. They donated money. Many cried at Monday's news that Jenna had died. 
 
 We didn't know her, but her story touched the essential fiber that makes us human, makes us care for those beset by troubles we can't imagine. 
 
 Here, in the happiest moment of a family's life together, the birth of children, comes the saddest news of all. 
 
 There are no words that will make the pain go away. Just the assurance that the girls will be cared for and loved and that, someday, Sgt. Hinman will gaze at his daughters and catch glimpses of Jenna's eyes, or her nose, or her hair, or her smile. He will one day hear them laugh and giggle and hear an echo of Jenna. 
 
 We hope that Sgt. Hinman will take solace in that. 
 
 Our sympathy joins the words of sympathy of thousands being extended to the Hinman family. And our hope extends to all people who fight the same brave fight day after day in hospital beds everywhere. 
 
 Sgt. Hinman said something shortly after Jenna's cancer was detected that resonates today. "She's fighting," he said. "We're taking it minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour and day-by-day." 
 
 That's all anyone can do, really. 
 
 

 Jenna Leigh Hinman (Blaisdell), of Watertown, NY, died suddenly on May 5th 2014 after a heroic 2-month battle with cancer, which was discovered only days after she gave birth prematurely to twin girls. A typical morning turned into panic on March 3rd 2014 when Jenna had difficulty catching her breath and started experiencing labor pains. Jenna was in her 30th week of pregnancy and was rushed to the emergency room where her baby girls were born via emergency C-Section. Due to the babies' premature birth, they were whisked away to the NICU with Jenna only getting a quick glimpse of her newborns - Kinleigh Anne Hinman (2 pounds 9 ounces) and Azlynn Mary Hinman (3 pounds 6 ounces), both in good health. Soon after the delivery Jenna began having increased difficulty breathing and the situation quickly escalated from fear that she had pneumonia to a realization that she was fighting for her very life. Jenna was placed in a medically induced coma on March 6th 2014. It was then that the family learned that Jenna was suffering from a rare, pregnancy-related cancer called choriocarcinoma, which had filled her body with tumors and lesions. The cancer was complicated by a chest/lung infection, which caused her to bleed internally and her lungs' ability to function deteriorated to the point where they were rendered useless. To combat this cancer and infection combination Crouse Hospital ICU in Syracuse, NY formed a team of prestigious local and international medical professionals that flew in to treat her. Jenna received heavy doses of chemotherapy and her life was also supported by an ECMO machine, which essentially removed blood from her body, oxygenated it, and then pumped it back through her veins since her lungs could no longer do it. These lifesaving efforts were essential, though they came with their own set of risks. Jenna's infected lungs were bleeding, which was exacerbated by the chemo therapy, and for the ECMO machine to run properly there was a need for blood thinners to stop the tubes from filling with dangerous clots "“ which put Jenna at risk for uncontrolled bleeding. The intricate nature of these life support mechanisms resulted in many dramatic scares in which Jenna was nearly lost. Jenna remained in the medically induced coma for several weeks until her body started to show signs of improvement. Slowly Jenna was weaned off of the ECMO machine and eventually it was completely removed. Jenna continued to be supported by a ventilator but as the chemotherapy started to work, the medical team brought her slowly out of sedation. In Jenna's final few weeks, those who love her were filled with renewed hope for her survival as she began working hard in physical therapy when she had the strength, started to show her spunky personality again, and was able to interact with and recognize her family and friends. During this time, Jenna was able to bond with her precious baby girls. She didn't have the strength to hold them tight but she basked in the glory of being a new mommy when her babies rested on her chest. Jenna had come very close to completely beating cancer when complications arose, which ultimately took her life. Jenna's husband, US Army SGT Brandon Hinman of Fort Drum, NY, who stood by her side every day of her illness, has been left to care for and raise their beautiful daughters as a single father. Brandon has defended our country and our freedom multiple times in Afghanistan and had prepared himself mentally for the fact that his career could cost him his life "“ but he, nor anyone else, had prepared themselves to lose Jenna instead. Initially this fundraising page was created to raise funds to support and sustain the Hinman family during Jenna's long road through recovery, but now its purpose is to provide some form of financial safety net for this beautiful family that has suffered the unimaginable. All contributions will go to the incalculable costs that face this young family in the hard years ahead. Thank you for reading Jenna's story and for contributing. Please visit the Prayers for Jenna facebook page to continue following the Hinman Twins as they grow www.facebook.com/prayersforjenna PLEASE KEEP ALL COMMENTS POSITIVE 

 For those who knew Jenna, it feels more than serendipitous that her ...
– A military mom whose rare form of cancer was discovered when she gave birth to twins has died, after two months of battling the illness and attracting a devoted online following. Jenna Hinman, 26, succumbed on Monday to a placental cancer that doctors found when she gave birth to Azlynn and Kinleigh on March 3, ABC News reports. The girls were delivered 30 weeks' premature (at 3 pounds, 6 ounces, and 2 pounds 9 ounces, respectively) and stayed in intensive care for 6 weeks, but are fine today. For Jenna, the battle was far more severe. Doctors had to invent treatments because Hinman's stage 3 choriocarcinoma—which originates in fast-growing placental tissue—is incredibly rare, the Post-Standard reports. Hinman was placed in a medically induced coma and given chemotherapy, but while her cancer count fell, she stayed in critical condition and eventually died of complications from pneumonia. "She's probably the most kind-hearted person I ever met," said her husband, Army Sgt. Brandon Hinman, back in March. "She would go out of her way for anyone, give them the shirt off her back." The outpouring has been tremendous, as thousands sent messages and donated money: "Many cried at Monday's news that Jenna had died," wrote the Post-Standard in an editorial. Click for more on her story.