Life Flight

Trent and Liesje had been preparing for this moment for months, but they still couldn’t believe how tiny their baby twins were. Piper and Georgia were born at 28 weeks, “the doctors told us Georgia was the smallest baby they delivered all year,” says Trent.

A month before the babies were born, Liesje had to leave home in New Plymouth to stay in Wellington’s maternity ward under close supervision.

They needed to delay the birth of these twins as long as possible. But that only marked the start of their journey.

When Georgia was born, she only weighed 456 grams.

“For the next three months, I stayed in the Wellington NICU ward while they looked after Georgia and Piper” says Liesje.

“Apparently there were some nights the nurses weren’t sure Georgia would make it through” shares Trent.

Back at home, Trent looked after their 3-year-old son Spencer, but as the weeks rolled into months it was difficult to explain why Mum and his baby sisters weren’t back home yet.

After three months of excellent care, the support of our donors gave them a way home. Liesje got the news that Life Flight was taking them to New Plymouth Hospital. “It had been over four months since I’d been home,” says Liesje, “It was actually surreal when I stepped off the plane, took a deep breath, and realized that part of our journey was over.”

Trent was glued to the flight tracker. He got to New Plymouth Airport in time to see them land and prepped for New Plymouth hospital.

“I remember the overwhelming relief hit me when I saw Liesje and the girls get off the Life Flight plane,” says Trent. “I had been holding it together for months but at that moment a few tears were shed knowing our family was all back together in one place.”

Now, a few years on, Georgia and Piper are bubbly and feisty twins. Trent, Liesje and Spencer get to prepare for all the trouble they’ll get into.