Aberdeen miracle twins start school against all odds

Few children starting school this week have overcome adversity quite like miracle twins Willow and Niamh Kelly.

The Aberdeen sisters’ journey to the classroom at St Joseph’s School has been far from straightforward, having been born three months early.

Between them, they battled a bleed to the brain, holes in their hearts and a deadly bowel infection.

Willow and Niamh were born on January 3, 2019 more than two hours apart when their mother’s waters broke just 26 weeks into her pregnancy.

Willow and Niamh had a tough start to life. Image: Zoe Stewart

Just hours later, Willow was born naturally weighing little more than 2lb at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital.

Her sister then turned the wrong way round in the womb and had to be delivered by emergency caesarean section two hours later, weighing exactly the same amount.

Both babies gave a tiny cry before they were whisked away and placed on a ventilator in intensive care to keep them alive.

Mum and dad had to wait a month to see what their babies looked like

For five weeks their faces were obscured by oxygen masks keeping them alive, meaning parents Zoe Stewart and Paddy Kelly had to wait more than a month to see what their babies looked like.

It was only when nurses at Aberdeen Maternity Hospital’s neo-natal intensive care unit took a photo while they briefly removed their masks, that the parents finally got to see their babies’ features.

The siblings were so fragile, as soon as they were born they were placed in a plastic bag to keep their skin moist and their bodies warm.

They spent their first nine weeks fighting for life in separate incubators before they were finally able to share a cot.

The twins were finally able to come home after 11 weeks. Image: Zoe Stewart

Between them they needed several blood transfusions and spent 10 weeks on oxygen.

Niamh also had to be resuscitated when she stopped breathing a week before she was due to go home.

But against all odds, Willow and Niamh, now 5, took to their desks at St Joseph’s School in Aberdeen for the start of P1 this week.

‘There were times when I doubted they would make it this far’

“I’m kind of a bit sad that this day has come,” said Zoe, 46.

“But also glad because it’s just been so hard, everything they’ve gone through, all the worry, it’s just been a real journey.

“There were definitely times when I doubted they would make it this far, particularly while we were in hospital, in the neo-natal unit. I mean we were told that they might not survive.

“You know when they go to school they’re not babies anymore.

Willow and Niamh on their way to school for the first time. Image: Zoe Stewart

“I had them so late, I never thought that I would have children, and it’s really been a tough journey for me.

“When I walked them to school on Tuesday, you could tell they were a bit apprehensive. But I just reminded them that they’re together, they’ll always have each other, whereas all these other kids are going there on their own.

“And do you know what, they were absolutely fine.

“I, however, was absolutely not fine. It’s been very emotional for me, but they’re ready for it.

“And I’m ready for it too, it has been tough – I’ve been working from home and the twins have only been in nursery two hours a day.

“So I am really looking forward to just getting a full working day to myself, which sounds really bad.”

Willow and Niamh are ‘ready’ for school, said mum Zoe. Image: Zoe Stewart

‘If it wasn’t for The Archie Foundation…God’

Zoe spoke of the help she and Paddy, 47, received from the Archie Foundation, a charity which supports families of sick kids at Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital.

Such is her gratitude for Willow and Niamh being here – against the odds – to start school, Zoe decided to join the Archie committee last year.

“If it wasn’t for Archie…God,” said Zoe.

“The support you get while you’re in the unit, you can’t even put it into words.

“You see when you’re in the neo-natal unit, you just presume that everything that is given to you, everything that’s provided, is on the NHS.

“But I only found out after leaving that the majority of the things that really helped me and helped my babies thrive was provided by Archie, with money raised through charity.

“They pay for so much stuff, state-of-the-art incubators, developmental therapists, psychologists, counsellors, a parents’ room, parents’ accommodation, things that made my experience better. Because you’re all over the place when you’re in there.

“Joining the committee is just my way of giving a little back.”