Grieving couple raises money in honour of twins
Family handoutA young couple who lost their twins shortly after they were born at 22 weeks are raising funds for the ward at Conquest Hospital that cared for them.
Millie Piper and Fin Hendley, both 21, spent six days at the Buchanan Delivery Suite at the Conquest Hospital in Hastings, East Sussex, as they lost their twin babies, Lily-Rose and Leo, and Piper had an infection.
"They [the staff] were incredible. I genuinely don't know what I would have done without them," said Piper. "Their patience, their knowledge, they were insane."
Hendley runs the cafe Hughies at Earls, in Bexhill, and is hosting a raffle with prizes from local businesses to help raise funds for the ward.
The couple said Piper was having complications that "didn't seem too worrying", but after an examination they were told her waters had broken and her body was ready to go into labour.
During the births, Piper lost a large amount of blood and was rushed into surgery which saved her life, Hendley said.
The pair said they had "some hope that maybe one day there will be enough facilities to be able to care for babies born at 22 weeks".
'We both had hope'
"When you're being told by a professional there's no chance, obviously deep down I knew there wasn't, but I just kept them, kept them, kept them, and then Lily obviously then started getting very unwell in me," Piper said.
"And then that's when it led to an infection in me and that's when they said: "Right, you know what? This is it. Basically, it's you first now."
Hendley added: "We both had hope obviously that there would still be a chance that they'd come out breathing, so it was hard to tell her that she didn't really have a choice, that she had to put herself first."
Claire Croft, deputy head of midwifery at East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, said: "We are deeply moved by Millie and Fin's courage in sharing their story after the heartbreaking loss of their babies.
"Our teams work with extraordinary compassion in the most difficult of circumstances, and it means a great deal to them to know their support brought some comfort at such a difficult time."
The couple has already raised more than £2,500 for the ward through an online fundraising page, and Croft said their generosity would "help us continue to provide the highest standard of care and comfort to families".
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