Twin girls, Brielle and Kyrie Jackson were born 12 weeks ahead of their due date at Massachusetts Memorial Hospital in Worcester, MA on October 17, 1995.
Needing intensive care, they were placed in separate incubators.
Each weighed 2 lbs. and Kyrie began to gain weight and her health stabilized. But Brielle had trouble breathing, heart problems, cried a great deal leaving her gasping and blue-faced. Brielle was having a particularly bad day so the nurse tried everything to calm her such as holding her, having the father hold her, suctioning her nose but, nothing worked. She was not expected to live.
With nothing else to do, the nurse went against hospital policy and decided to place both babies in the same incubator. Almost immediately, Brielle snuggled up to Kyrie. As Brielle got closer to her sister, Kyrie put her small little arm around her, as if to hug and support her sister.
From that moment on, Brielle’s blood oxygen saturation went up after being frightening low. She began to breathe more easily. The crying stopped, and her normal, pinkish color quickly returned. Over the weeks, her health improved steadily being with her sister.
When this story hit the media with this picture, the parents had to change their phone number!
