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A mom shared a heartrending photo of her premature baby hugging her twin sister – just days before she passed away almost two years ago.
In the touching snap posted by English mom Amy Campbell newborn Charlotte can be seen wrapping her tiny arm around her ill twin, Esme.
Just moments earlier the 30-year-old mom and her husband, Conor (32), had received the devastating news that Esme wasn’t thriving.
Little Esme had spent seven weeks battling for survival along with her sister, Charlotte, after they were born prematurely at 26 weeks in July 2016.
But after numerous tests were performed, it was revealed Esme’s brain was so full of fluid she’d never have any quality of life.
“Esme had had a really bad infection but we got told that her infection markers had come right down and we thought she was fighting back,” says Amy.
“Then [the next day] I was out walking the dog and I got a phone call from the hospital. They never called unless there was an emergency so I knew something was really wrong.
“They told me they thought we should come to the hospital. I just knew they were going to tell us that Esme was dying. I collapsed in the field and a man from the village had to come and get me to my feet.
“I called Conor and we drove to the hospital. It was such a horrible drive. The whole time I knew I was on the way to face hearing that Esme was too poorly.
“The doctors told us that more fluid had gone into her ventricles in her brain and her head circumference had increased so much that even if she were to survive she would have absolutely no quality of life.”
The heartbroken parents made the tough decision to switch off their little girl’s life-support machines.
“We knew we didn’t want Esme to suffer but how do you decide when to switch off your baby’s life support? It was a massive decision.
“How will you know when to end your child’s life? All I did know was that before she died I wanted them to meet [each] other,” the mom says.
Determined for their daughter’s to “meet” before Esme passed away, the first-time mom asked the nurses to help her hold the girls at the same time.
As nurses placed the twins on their mom’s chest, little Charlotte placed her arm around her sister’s shoulders – a moment Amy says she’ll never forget.
“It was probably Charlotte just getting comfortable but it would be beautiful to think she was giving her sister a big cuddle. She’s such a caring girl that maybe she was hugging her.
“That moment of having them both snuggled up in my arms was the best moment of my life. Despite the devastation of what we’d just been told, at that moment everything felt so right,” says Amy.
The next day the parents knew it was the right time to put an end to their daughter’s suffering and they held their brave little girl after her life support was turned off.
“I was holding her when she took her last breath. When she died and we realised she wasn’t coming back it was so heartbreaking,” says Amy.
“But I tried not cry because I wanted her to be surrounded by happiness and love and strength. I wanted her to remember that she had a strong mom and she shouldn’t be scared of where she was going next.”
Since losing Esme, Conor and Amy have set up a nonprofit organisation in her memory called Campbellinas – their nickname for the twins.
Source: Magazine Features
