A family has been left heartbroken after their 15-month-old died on Christmas morning, days after his twin brother left hospital having recovered from a coma.
Blue-eyed twins Louie and Vinnie Hughes were born at 26-weeks on August 28, 2023, more than three months before their December 5 due date and spent four months battling in hospital before coming home.
The boys, from Stockton, had been largely happy and healthy since until about three weeks ago when they both contracted a cough which turned out to be flu, and Vinnie was put in a coma in Newcastle for six days.
But as Vinnie came back from the RVI to North Tees Hospital Louie began to deteriorate and took the opposite journey, being blue-lit to Newcastle where he was placed in a coma.
Louie went into cardiac arrest on December 21 but medics managed to resuscitate him. But early on Christmas morning a decision was made to stop life support and he died at about 8.15am.
The boys’ mum Megan Hughes, 28, told The Northern Echo: “It just feels like the world has stopped.
“He was just happy all the time. All the videos I have are of him laughing all the time.
“It’s a little hard to think about him.
“I went in with him from the 21st and was staying in the accommodation at the RVI and they rang me to come over on Christmas morning. They told me that his breathing wasn’t working on the machine anymore so they were having to hand-pump him oxygen which couldn’t go on.
“They just put him on me and he was quiet.”
The family will now have to plan a funeral for the tot, who leaves behind siblings Vinnie, Nancy, nine, Eren, six, and Ronnie, five.
His cause of death has been recorded on his death certificate as flu.
“Vinnie is the more quiet one, Louie was louder,” Megan, a stay-at-home mum added.
“He could say a few words but he wasn’t walking yet. They had a bit of developmental delay from being premature.
“Louie was the poorly one when they were born because he was smaller. They didn’t really have any health issues.
“I still can’t believe it. On his death certificate it says flu.”
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When they were born the twins were so small, with Vinnie weighing 1lb 6oz and Louie at 1lb 4oz, Megan could fit one in each hand.
A GoFundMe initially launched to help cover the costs of travelling from Teesside to the RVI will now be used to pay for Louie’s funeral, with any leftover funds going to the hospital.
Anyone wishing to donate can do so HERE.
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