A family has appealed for support, after both of their identical twin daughters were diagnosed with the same heart condition.
British mum Leisa Foley’s appeal comes as Grace and Lilly Jeffery, born in September 2015, battle dilated cardiomyopathy.
Dilated cardiomyopathy is a condition whereby the heart becomes enlarged to the point where it cannot pump blood around the body efficiently. This can, in turn, affect the functioning of other vital organs in the body.
The girls’ ordeal began last month, when little Grace fell ill. She was admitted to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children for treatment, where she was diagnosed with the illness.
Grace gave her family a shock when she went into cardiac arrest, and she is currently on a by-pass machine. Doctors believe that she may even need a heart transplant.
There was more bad news for the family on the following day, however, when Lilly became poorly. The tot’s grandmother brought her to hospital where, devastatingly, she was diagnosed with the exact same condition as her sister. Both little girls were healthy newborns.
A friend of the family as set up a GoFundMe page for the girls, as they face into a long road of treatment.
Tammie Foley wrote: “As many of you know, Grace and Lilly are both in Bristol Children’s Hospital with dilated cardiomyopathy.
“Grace is currently on life support after consistently going downhill, despite being on HDU three weeks ago; and Lilly is sedated and ventilated on the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit.
“This is an incredibly rare situation, and the top cardiologist in Bristol has only ever seen this once, 15 years ago, with a mother and daughter.”
She explained that doctors are investigating the girls’ cases and trying to figure out why they both have the same condition.
As funding is limited, Tammie went on to ask the public to spare any donations they can, to help with the potentially life-saving treatment.
“Any donation of any size will be greatly appreciated. Many thanks for taking the time to read our plea. I have put our target as £15,000, but we don’t know how much we are going to need to get the information reviewed at a hospital in Germany, so hoping we can raise as much as possible,” she added.
If you would like to donate, you can find the GoFundMe link here.
