The real-life This Is Us: American Ninja Warrior contestant reveals he and his wife tragically lost a baby before they adopted a son from the SAME hospital - just like characters from the NBC hit

  • Josh Butler, of Nashville, competed in the Daytona Beach finals on Monday
  • The father stopped short of competing the obstacle course, but his participation came as an emotional moment for his family
  • His wife Katie watched and encouraged him along with their two-year-old son
  • Together they adopted the little boy, Braxtel, after losing their firstborn Dewey to a rare genetic disorder
  • In This Is Us, Rebecca and Jack, played by Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia, go through a similar ordeal after losing a baby during childbirth

By Clemence Michallon For Dailymail.com

Published: 15:32 EST, 8 August 2017 | Updated: 15:41 EST, 8 August 2017

An American Ninja Warrior contestant and his wife tragically lost a baby, before adopting a boy from the hospital where their child was treated, a bittersweet story that is eerily reminiscent of the a central plotline on the TV show This Is Us.

Josh Butler, of Nashville, Tennessee, competed in the Daytona Beach finals on Monday. While the dad, who works as a bus driver for a non-profit, stopped short of completing the obstacle race, his participation came as an emotional moment for his family.

His wife Katie and their two-year-old son Braxtel watched and encouraged him from the side, with little Braxtel communicating with his father in sign language from a distance.

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Father: Josh Butler, of Nashville, Tennessee, competed in the American Ninja Warrior Daytona Beach finals on Monday while being encouraged by his wife Katie and their son Braxtel

Father: Josh Butler, of Nashville, Tennessee, competed in the American Ninja Warrior Daytona Beach finals on Monday while being encouraged by his wife Katie and their son Braxtel

Story: Katie (pictured with Braxtel during the competition) and Josh tragically lost a child before fostering and adopting their son, who is now two years old

Story: Katie (pictured with Braxtel during the competition) and Josh tragically lost a child before fostering and adopting their son, who is now two years old

Illness: Their firstborn Dewey (pictured) was born in May 2015 with a rare genetic disorder that meant he had trouble breathing and eating

Illness: Their firstborn Dewey (pictured) was born in May 2015 with a rare genetic disorder that meant he had trouble breathing and eating

Katie and Josh fostered and adopted Braxtel, who is now two years old, after losing their firstborn to a rare genetic disorder.

Dewey, the couple's first son, was born in May 2015 and had trouble breathing and eating.

His parents spent all of their waking hours in the hospital by his side, Josh recounted in a clip for American Ninja Warrior.

After just 132 days, Dewey died. 'His little body had been working so hard,' Katie said between tears.

A nurse from the same hospital told the parents after the baby boy's death that another child, named Braxtel, presented similar symptoms to Dewey's and had been 'deserted' by his family. 

'Right away I knew it was an answer to a prayer,' Katie said. 'This baby needed a home, needed a family.'

Heartbreaking: Dewey's parents spent all of their waking hours in the hospital by his side. After just 132 days, the baby boy (pictured with his dad) died

Heartbreaking: Dewey's parents spent all of their waking hours in the hospital by his side. After just 132 days, the baby boy (pictured with his dad) died

Parents: A nurse from the same hospital told the parents after the baby boy's death that another child, named Braxtel, had been 'deserted' by his family

Parents: A nurse from the same hospital told the parents after the baby boy's death that another child, named Braxtel, had been 'deserted' by his family

Together: 'Right away I knew it was an answer to a prayer,' Katie (pictured with Braxtel) said. 'This baby needed a home, needed a family'

Together: 'Right away I knew it was an answer to a prayer,' Katie (pictured with Braxtel) said. 'This baby needed a home, needed a family'

Cheering him on: Braxtel watched his dad competing in American Ninja Warrior (pictured) with a special tube around his neck, which ensures he gets enough oxygen

Cheering him on: Braxtel watched his dad competing in American Ninja Warrior (pictured) with a special tube around his neck, which ensures he gets enough oxygen

Josh and Katie met little Braxtel and, in the words of his father, 'fell in love with him'. They fostered and ultimately adopted him. 

Braxtel watched his dad competing in American Ninja Warrior with a special tube around his neck, which ensures he gets enough oxygen.

The little boy cannot speak yet because of the tube, and thus spoke in sign language with his dad as Josh faced the obstacle course.

Josh and Katie know their life story is remarkably similar to Rebecca and Jack's destiny on This Is Us. The characters, played by Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia respectively, lose one of their triplets during childbirth in the show's first season.

After their newborn son's death, Jack and Rebecca adopt a child sent to the same hospital after being abandoned at a fire station. 

Fiction: Rebecca and Jack from This Is Us, played by Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia, lose a baby during childbirth and adopt a child from the same hospital in the first season

Fiction: Rebecca and Jack from This Is Us, played by Mandy Moore and Milo Ventimiglia, lose a baby during childbirth and adopt a child from the same hospital in the first season

Feat: Josh, who works as a bus driver for a non-profit, stopped short of completing the obstacle race, but his participation came as an emotional moment for his family

Feat: Josh, who works as a bus driver for a non-profit, stopped short of completing the obstacle race, but his participation came as an emotional moment for his family

Words: Braxtel cannot speak yet due to his breathing tube, but Josh communicated with him during his turn on the obstacle course (pictured) thanks to sign language

Words: Braxtel cannot speak yet due to his breathing tube, but Josh communicated with him during his turn on the obstacle course (pictured) thanks to sign language

'Honestly, once This Is Us began, we heard the premise of the pilot and chose not to watch it. We lived it,'' Josh told Today. 'We don't want to watch it on the screen. But this past week, actually, Katie sat down to watch it, and she felt very deeply what the characters were experiencing.'

Despite the apparent similarities between Josh and Katie's destinies and the show, the father pointed out television cannot completely capture the heartwrenching experience of losing a child.

'There's so much that's personal to each parent's story of loss that you can't put on the screen—like the moment the doctors tell you that he didn't make it,' he said.

'And the moments after they roll his bed back into his room for you to hold his lifeless body. And cleaning and dressing the body one last time, without being connected to all of the life support machines. And taking your child's body in the car seat to the funeral home. There's so much that TV can't portray.' 

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