HUG OF LIFE
Cuddle helped twins survive ... and it’s still working miracles
THEY began life with a struggle, but the bond between twins Ava and Austin Jayson saw them through.
And two-and-a-half years later, that special togetherness is still working medical miracles.
Born 1 weeks premature in May 2015 weighing just over 2lb, neither was breathing. They were resuscitated and placed in incubators. But both were still struggling, until eight weeks later when they were put in the same incubator at the request of their mother Krystina. They immediately put their arms around each other – and their health improved dramatically.
There is no scientific explanation for what happened, although many parents of twins believe in the ‘rescuing hug’.
Mrs Lake-Jayson, 29, said: ‘It really was a miracle. It was as if they knew they were together again and they were pulling each other through. It was wonderful to see. They really improved from that moment on.’ But, to the astonishment of Mrs Lake-Jayson and her husband Luke Jayson, , that was not the last time the twins’ special bond would prove invaluable in a medical crisis.
In September last year, Ava collapsed in her mother’s arms at home in Stevenage. Doctors at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge discovered she had dilated cardiomyopathy, a condition that affects the heart’s ability to pump blood around the body.
She was transferred to the Royal Brompton Hospital in London but went into cardiac arrest. Ava needed 11 blood transfusions and suffered a stroke. But she pulled through and Austin was again a major help in her recovery.
‘He joined in with her physiotherapy and held her hand as she tried to take her first steps again,’ said Mrs Lake-Jayson. ‘She copied Austin, which really helped her.
‘With her brother by her side there’s nothing she can’t do. There may not be any scientific proof that a twin’s bond and cuddling each other can help – but I saw it with my own eyes.’
‘Pulling each other through’