Just days after his wife had triplets she unexpectedly died. This is how Joey coped.

Casi was fussing around the babies’ nursery room, adding final touches to prepare for her tiny newborn triplets‘ first night at home. Overwhelmed with happiness, bursting with excitement, she began to cry.

Her husband, Joey Rott, watched on adoringly. “It was a really nice, but short moment,” he told People.

It was short, because just five minutes later the Kansas woman’s pulse began to race and she became crippled by pain in her chest. A blood clot, likely a result of her c-section 10 days prior, had formed in her lungs.

Joey rushed her to the hospital, but Casi died later that day.

In an instant, his life changed. Thrust into the role of single parent to five small children, he world became a blur of 6:30 starts, preparing meals, choosing outfits, mixing formula.

“Casi was always the one who got them ready in the morning and cooked,” he says. “It’s something I had to adjust to, but we got a pretty good routine down. We made it work.”

Now, he says, things seem to get a little easier, day by day, week by week. Thanks to the help of his parents who live nearby, he’s even been able to return to work.

“I just want to make sure I raise them all well, but I know I will because of the help I have,” says Joey. “I can’t do it on my own.”