When Amy Campbell thinks about her baby daughter who died in 2016, she takes comfort in a photo of her little girl and her twin sister in a “goodbye” embrace.
The grieving British mother recently shared the touching photo of her twin daughters with the Daily Mail. Baby Esme died in August 2016 after being born 14 weeks prematurely; her twin sister, Charlotte, survives.
Campbell, who lives in Leeds with her husband, Connor, said her water broke when she was 26 weeks pregnant with the girls in 2016. A few days later, the twins arrived, weighing about 2 pounds each, according to the report.
At first, Charlotte was the twin who struggled the most, her mother said. But six weeks after their birth, Esme took a turn for the worse. Campbell said Esme had a large amount of fluid on her brain and her condition kept deteriorating.
She told the Mail:
Explaining how she found out the devastating news that Esme would likely not survive, the stay-at-home mother said: ‘Esme had had a really bad infection but on the Friday we got told that her infection markers had come right down and we thought she was fighting back.
‘Then on Saturday 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 into 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 Connor 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 the Campbells that Esme was probably going to die and recommended that she be taken off life support. Heartbroken, the couple said they debated what to do.
No matter what happened, they said they wanted the sisters to have a chance to be together – something that had not happened since they were in the womb.
Click here to sign up for pro-life news alerts from LifeNews.com
PRO-LIFE COLLEGE STUDENT? LifeNews is looking for interns interested in writing, social media, or video creation. Contact us today.
“Connor and I had never been able to hold them both at the same time so the nurses arranged to help us out,” their mother said. “They were really brilliant the whole way through.
“The nurses placed them on my chest and Charlotte put her arm around Esme and I thought ‘they love each other’,” Amy Campbell said, describing the touching moment.
“It was probably Charlotte just getting comfortable but it would be beautiful to think she was giving her sister a big cuddle. She is such a caring girl that maybe she was hugging her,” she said.
As Esme’s condition continued to worsen, the Campbells decided that it was time to let her go. Esme died in her mother’s arms after doctors removed her life support, according to the report.
The family had Esme christened and later held a funeral for her. Today, their home has mementos of her life, including that special photo of the sisters’ last moment together.
“That moment of having them both snuggled up in my arms was the best moment of my life,” their mother said. “Despite the devastation of what we had just been told, in that moment everything felt so right.
“In her short life she taught us nothing but courage and bravery. She taught us what love means in its purest form and the best ways to live our lives. I think she has always looked out for her sister,” she said.
