Girlfriend of pitcher who died in boating crash opens up about daughter born 5 months later

— -- Maria Arias, the girlfriend of Jose Fernandez, refuses to let the legacy of the late Miami Marlins pitcher die.

Fernandez was 24 when he and two other men died in a September boating accident outside Miami Harbor in Florida. The Marlins had drafted him in 2011.

Arias recently opened up about life without Fernandez, especially after she gave birth to their first child together, a baby girl named Penelope Jo Fernandez, on Feb. 24, five months after his death.

"He loved her from the moment she was conceived," Arias told People magazine of her late boyfriend. "Everyone knew how excited he was to be a dad; he made sure of it."

Arias, who initially met Fernandez through family members, said that although he wasn't physically present in the delivery room, she made sure his presence was still felt.

"I kept a piece of his clothing since he passed that I sleep with every night, and I took it with me," she said. "I had it around my neck the whole time. So, when they put her on top of me it was kind of like both of us being present."

Arias added that having Fernandez's daughter is some consolation after his tragic death.

"You have days that you look at her and you feel happiness and gratitude. And then there are other days where you feel afraid and you feel lonely and you feel the weight of his absence again," she admitted. "He makes such an impact in your life, that his absence just feels so heavy."

And although Fernandez is dead, Arias said she wants to ensure his legacy never dies, especially for the sake of her daughter.

"I will forever talk about him. I will never let his memory die. I will always keep him alive, no matter how much that hurts me," she said. "Because she deserves that from me; and from all of us. And so does he."

Arias added, "He was a beautiful person; we who truly knew him talk about him that way and value him that way, and we’ll continue to do that."