A Story of Hope and Miracles: Britain's Youngest Surviving Twin Boys Persevere

Britain's youngest-surviving twin boys, born at just over one pound, beat the odds and made it to their first birthday. 

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - According to Mirror, Jenson and Ruben Powell were born weighing just about as much as a half a bag of sugar after their mom, Jennie, went into labor at 22 weeks. 

A terrified Jennie was rushed to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. After being examined, the doctors there informed her she needed to go to a specialist neo-natal unit immediately. 

"I felt some pain, and just knew that something wasn't right." expressed Jennie, according to Mirror.

Jennie and her husband, Rich, were flown to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford by the coast guard. While there, the next day, she gave birth to two beautiful baby boys. But the news wasn't great.

Jenson was born weighing about 1.2 lbs and was given a zero percent chance at survival. The other, Ruben, was given just a 20 to 30 percent chance of living, weighing 1.3 lbs, according to Mirror.

"Everything that followed, in the days after that, we can only describe as miraculous," stated Jennie to Mirror. "Every decision made by the people who were looking after us ensured that our boys survived."

Jenson and Ruben were in for a tough beginning, something Jennie and Rich had already experienced. The couple lost a son, two years prior to the twins' birth, after the boy was born at 23 weeks.

"When the John Radcliffe Hospital said they could take us we found ourselves being airlifted by HM Coastguard," explained Jennie about her experience giving birth to her twins, Jenson and Ruben.

"They were taken immediately to neonatal intensive care. We were being prepared for the likelihood of saying goodbye to another child," said Jennie.

Ruben, the bigger of the two, had intestinal failure at eight-days-old; he underwent his first life-saving operation for this condition. In addition, both boys were cured of retinopathy of prematurity, which could cause permanent sight loss, according to Mirror.

"The standard of care we received was outstanding," explained the boys' father Rich. "They will continue to have chronic lung disease until they are about three, but otherwise they are doing really well."

In an act of praise and gratefulness, the Powell family made a trip to visit the helicopter team who helped save their lives the day Jennie went into labor. According to Mirror, "Captain Jorg Brunner, co-pilot Ivan Hamilton, chief crewman Ian Copley and winchman Niall Hanson took Jennie and midwife Jane Parke to Oxford."

"After that day the helicopter crew didn't have any idea about what had happened -- that the boys had survived. Being able to meet them again on the anniversary is so wonderful," expressed Jennie. "It really is a story of hope and miracles."

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