Ex-NFL hopeful Patrick Murtagh and his partner, social media influencer Hannah Orval, announced the devastating loss of their first child.
Orval shared the heartbreaking news in an Instagram post, revealing that their son, Meelo Michael Murtagh, was born prematurely and stillborn.
“Meelo Michael Murtagh, born into this big world early and sleeping,” Orval wrote on the platform. “He will forever be the biggest missing piece of the rest of our story.”
Orval described the brief time the couple spent with Meelo as “irreplaceable” and said she would endure childbirth again “every day in every lifetime” for the chance to meet him.
“To be a family for even just for a day was irreplaceable,” she wrote. “We are absolutely devastated, but forever our biggest achievement in life.”
The couple also shared a series of photos from the hospital as they mourned the loss of their son.
Murtagh and Orval announced in May that they were expecting their first child together.
Murtagh, 26, spent parts of three years with NFL organizations after making a transition from Australian football to tight end in the States.
The Australian athlete was assigned to the Lions through the NFL’s International Player Pathway program in 2023, but an undisclosed medical issue ended his initial stint with Detroit.
He later joined the Jaguars through the program in April 2024 before suffering an ankle injury during training camp and being waived in May 2025.
Murtagh most recently joined the Broncos’ practice squad in August 2025 under an international player exemption.
He did not appear in an NFL regular-season game during his time with the three organizations.
