Mum forced to switch off her twin boys’ life support three weeks apart offers support to Charlie Gard’s parents
Nichola Ranyard and her partner Daniel lost their twin boys Rio and Alfie after they were born brain damaged
NEW parents Nichola and Daniel faced the agony of having to make the impossible decision to switch off their baby's life support not once but TWICE.
At just a day old, their son Rio passed away - then three weeks later the couple's hearts were broken a second time when his twin brother Alfie slipped away.
The boys were born weighing 1lb 1oz at just 24 weeks, and both suffered brain damage.
Having made the decision to turn off the machines keeping Rio alive, the couple were forced the face the same decision for Alfie when his condition deteriorated three weeks later.
Mum Nichola Ranyard has spoken out to offer support to Connie Yates and Chris Gard, the parents of terminally ill Charlie Gard.
Charlie is one of 16 children in the world with mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, a genetic condition which has left the 11-month-old deaf, blind and unable to cry.
Courts have now decided to turn off the machine that takes his every breath for him - after doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital said they believe it is in his best interest, the most humane thing to do.
Nichola, 27, and her partner Daniel, 29, know only too well how hard that moment will be for Charlie's devastated parents.
Born at 24 weeks in September 2009 at the Princess Diana Hospital, Grimsby, and weighing a tiny 1lb 10oz each, both were vulnerable.
But, like Charlie, both suffered from severe brain damage.
Rio had a brain haemorrhage and doctors said he would have no quality of life, even if he did survive.
Tragically, three weeks later, Alfie took a turn for the worst - and they were faced with the same tragic decision.
The minute their life-supporting tubes were taken away, Rio and Alfie looked so calm and peaceful. It comforted me knowing they were no longer in pain
Nichola Ranyard
Nichola, who now has son Freddie, seven, and daughter Frankie, three, and lives in Grimsby, Lincs, told The Sun: “No parent wants to be in this position.
"It is truly agonising and I sympathise with Charlie’s parents and understand their fight.
"But I had faith in doctors that they were right - and both my boys would have been denied the same quality of life we have had the luxury to have."
Nichola said there are "no words to describe" the feeling when you are taken into a room and told you're child will be brain damaged, in pain and really sick.
Doctors told the couple their sons would never recover.
"It was never how I expected how things would turn out when I first fell pregnant," she recalled.
"I experienced a range of emotions.
"At first, I blamed myself for their ill health. I thought I could have prevented it.
"And then I became angry."
But, in the end, Nichola said she "knew it was right" to turn off their life support.
"The minute their life-supporting tubes were taken away, Rio and Alfie looked so calm and peaceful," she recalled.
It is truly agonising and I sympathise with Charlie’s parents and understand their fight. But I had faith in doctors that they were right
Nichola Ranyard
"It comforted me knowing they were no longer in pain."
On the day that Alfie died, undertakers arrived at the hospital to take his brother Rio's body away.
Nichola said: "As heart-breaking as it was, I knew was a sign that they wanted to be together.
"Now I think of my boys united and believe I have two angels as part of our family of six."
She said in the years to come, she hopes Charlie's parents will be able to look back and know their son is not in pain.
The 27-year-old praised the couple for refusing to give up on Charlie, and putting up a fight for him.
"My heart pours out to them that, they too, will have the loveliest little angel by their side," she said.
"That time still tortures me at moments.
"But I know they are both in a happier place."
Charlie’s Gard’s parents Chris and Connie have raised £1.3 million for his treatment in the US.
But they lost their fight to take him abroad in an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
Judges upheld the view of doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital that switching off Charlie's life support is the most humane thing to do.
Doctors have raised concerns that the experimental treatment, never tested before on someone with Charlie's specific condition, won't benefit Charlie.
US president Donald Trump tweeted his support for them and Pope Francis has also offered to take the tot into his care to prevent his life support being turned off.
Meanwhile, a specialist in the US has offered to treat Charlie for free.
Sands, stillbirth and neonatal death charity is here to support anyone affected by the death of a baby.
To find out more about the help and support available, please call their Freephone Helpline on 0808 164 3332 or visit their website.
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