Heartbroken mum shares beautiful picture of premature baby’s ‘goodbye hug’ for her dying twin sister as she cradled them both for first time
Charlotte Campbell wraps her arm around her sister, Esme, in this lovely photo. It was the first time their mum, Amy, had been able to cuddle them both together after they arrived into the world at just 26 weeks and five days.
Charlotte Campbell may be seen throwing her arm over her sick twin Esme Campbell in the poignant photo of Amy Campbell holding both of her girls at the same time.
Just moments earlier former special needs teacher Amy, 30, and her husband Conor Campbell, a 32-year-old commercial manager, had received the devastating news that Esme had an extreme amount of fluid on her brain.
Esme and her sister Charlotte had spent seven weeks fighting for their lives after being born terribly prematurely at 26 weeks and five days on July 10, 2016, weighing only 2.2 pounds and 2 pounds, respectively.
However, testing indicated that Esme’s brain ventricles were filled with so much fluid that she would never have a good life, Amy and Conor made the heartbreaking decision to switch off their baby girl’s life support.
Determined for their daughters to ‘meet’ before Esme passed away, first-time parents Amy and Conor from Leeds, Yorks, asked for the nurses to help them hold the girls at the same time.
“The nurses placed them on my chest and Charlotte put her arm around Esme and I thought ‘they love each other’,” Amy, 30, recalled.
She added that having her beloved daughters snuggled up in her arms was the “best moment” of her life, saying: “Everything felt so right.”
Amy believes the girls have had a mystical link since they were born, and Esme will always be there for Charlotte in that particular twin way.
The emotional photo of the twins’ embrace was taken on August 27, 2016, and Esme died in the early hours of August 30, 2016.
Since losing Esme, Conor and Amy have set up a non-profit organisation in her memory called Campbellinas – their nickname for the twins.
As a means of saying “thank you” for all of the care they received from the Leeds hospital, the couple has raised more than £10,000 so far.
Amy has also set up a blog called This Is My Brave Face to help other families coping with the loss of a child.
