No two Angel Flight passengers have the same story, each person has a unique set of circumstances, however the common thread is they all live far, far, away from medical care and need help getting there. None are more worthy of help than the medical miracle twins from Tamworth, who have been to hell and back and against all odds, lived to tell the story.
Providing free flights and drives, 27 to date, from Tamworth to Sydney has been a pleasure and an honour for Angel Flight pilots who will continue to help the twins, Harper in particular, with her ongoing medical needs.
Twin five-year-olds Harper and Maddie were born eight weeks premature in 2019, via emergency at Westmead Hospital. A goliath fight for survival lay ahead for the little troopers and many years of stress and upheaval for the Gardner family.
Maddie and Harper are dichorionic diamniotic twins, (DCDA) meaning they each had their own amniotic sac and placenta. In a rare medical occurrence, the twins’ placenta had an interconnecting vascular system, and they unfortunately developed twin anemia polycythemia sequence (TAPS). This clinical scenario is rare, therefore Dr. D. Kanagaretnam who was part of the Materanl Fetal Medicine team lead by Dr. Roshini Nayyar published a case report.
In utero, Harper had fetal growth restriction and by 17 weeks she had no amniotic fluid too, subsequently this fortunately normalised. In one of many medical complications to come, Harper developed a heart malformation called Tetralogy of Fallot with associated pulmonary atresia. Sonya and Gareth were told Harper’s chance of surviving pregnancy was less than 5%.
“Harper was born not breathing, pale white and severely anaemic; things were not looking good. Her twin, Maddie, was born dark purple which we later discovered was because there had been twin anemia polycythemia sequence (TAPS) and Maddie had Harper’s blood in her, she too had her own set of medical problems.”
After being intubated and revived, Harper was transferred to Westmead Children’s Hospital where she was given two blood transfusions, meanwhile Maddie was having Harper’s excessive blood drained. “They did not expect Harper to last the night,” Sonya says.
Once again proving medical expert wrong, Harper fought on and remained in intensive care until she was discharged at nine months old. During these long, hard nine months, the entire family including Gareth and18-month-old brother, Asher stayed at Ronald McDonald House, Westmead.
Over the next few months, Harper overcame kidney failure, chronic lung disease, retinopathy of prematurity and was diagnosed with an inguinal hernia and dislocated hips, all of which slowed her growth. She had open heart surgery at ten weeks old (two weeks corrected) and at 14 weeks suffered another blow with her inguinal hernia causing issues which required corrective surgery.
At four months, Harper had another near miss, a bowel obstruction that almost killed her. Her previous hernia surgery had caused adhesions, and she endured emergency surgery to remove 10cm of her bowel which stunted her weight, further delaying her much needed heart surgery.
Finally, at seven months old, Harper was stable and heavy enough (weighing 4kg) for her open heart surgery which went smoothly. It was at this point, doctors also added conductive hearing loss to the long list of Harper’s medical problems, and although the family celebrated her discharge at nine months, they knew the road ahead would be long and bumpy.
Back home in Tamworth, Sonya and Gareth were overwhelmed by the insurmountable task of getting Harper to regular medical appointments in Sydney. They are eternally grateful to the discharge coordinator from Westmead Hospital who referred the family to Angel Flight.
Sonya and the twins boarded their first Angel Flight in June 2020 with pilot Peter Martin who collected the trio from Tamworth and flew them to Bankstown, turning a very stressful 8-hour car trip into a direct 90-minute flight. At Bankstown, Earth Angel Elizabeth Seymour, greeted her precious cargo and drove them to Westmead Hospital for many days of medical appointments.
Sonya explains; “The flight alleviated so much stress during an intense time, I was breastfeeding Maddie and Harper was tube fed so we had the feeding pump in tow. She had only been discharged from ICU two months earlier so the drive from Tamworth would have been unbearable for all of us.”
“The twins’ older brother Asher, who was 2 years old at the time, stayed at home with my husband Gareth who held the fort, taking more time off work but less time than if we all had to drive.”
“The efficiency and directness of the flight was a godsend for our family.”
“I also love that Angel Flights fly into Bankstown rather than the commercial airport so there is no waiting in queues with a sick baby in tow!”
Over the past four years, the family have continued to use Angel Flight as Harper’s medical interventions continues. She had hip surgery at three and a half years old and now walks without a walker and is starting to jump and run. Despite being tube fed until she was three, Harper now eats well.
Harper wears a hearing aid and requires extensive weekly therapy and early intervention in readiness for school next year alongside her sister. “She’s our little miracle after being told many times, ‘She is not going to make it,” says Sonya.
Angel Flight is honoured to have helped Harper and her family and will continue to do so for as long as they need help.
If you would like to donate to Angel Flight to keep families like the Gardner’s flying, head to https://www.angelflight.org.au/support-us/support-angel-flight-australia/
