Muriel Padilha almost lost his wife and unborn twins in the same week.
But the Brazilian family experienced a miracle in the midst of tragedy. Though Padilha’s wife died, doctors were able to keep the twins alive inside their mother’s body for months until they grew big enough to survive outside the womb, according to the Daily Mail.
Today, babies Ana Vitoria and Asaph are doing well at home with their father, grandmother and big sister.
Their mother, Frankielen da Silva Zampoli Padilha, of Campo Largo, Brazil, died last October after suffering from a cerebral hemorrhage, according to the report.
Right before she died, her husband said she called him at work urging him to come home and take her to the hospital. When he found her at home, he said she was suffering from severe pain, dizziness and vomiting.
On their drive to the hospital, Padilha said his wife told him that she believed she was going to die. He said she passed out in the car and never woke up again.
She was only 9 weeks pregnant at the time, and doctors said her unborn twins probably would die, too, according to the report. Some would say the twins at 9 weeks of pregnancy were not really people yet, but the doctors in Brazil did not see it that way.
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Dr. Dalton Rivabem, who cared for the twins at Nosso Senhora do Rocio Hospital, said they decided to keep treating the babies as long as their hearts were still beating. And every day, they kept beating.
“Frankielen’s organs were all intact and working as if she was still with us,” Rivabem said. “We took the decision to keep her alive to save her unborn children. And every day we watched them grow normally.”
The medical team worked hard to save the unborn twins’ lives, keeping their mother’s organs functioning so that the babies could grow big enough to survive outside the womb.
Along with medical care, the hospital staff also cared for the unborn babies in special ways by singing, playing music for them, talking to them and touching them through their mother’s stomach, according to the report.
Miraculously, the twins stayed in the womb for 123 days more before doctors delivered them via C-section. Both were born weighing about 3 pounds, according to the report.
“The success of this case was down to great teamwork and, of course, to a divine purpose,” Rivabem said.
Publicity about the babies in the local news prompted people across Brazil to donate food, clothes, diapers and much more to the family, according to the report.
Their grandmother, Angela Silva, takes care of them while their father works, according to the report.
“I’m so proud of my daughter. It’s been hard losing her but she was a warrior right until the end, protecting her beautiful children and giving them life until the day she finally died,” their grandmother said.
Padilha said of his wife, “Frankielen was a generous and loving person. I believe God chose her for this purpose so a miracle could happen.”
