Mum who gave birth to world’s tiniest twins reveals that one of her sons has died
Image by: Tom Wren SWNS
A mum who gave birth to the world’s tiniest twins has revealed that one of her "miracle" sons has died.
Talia Keates, 33, gave birth to twin brothers Ashley and Joe on April 16th, 2019 - with the little boys weighing in at just 403g and 429g respectively.
Aready a mum-of-four, Talia went into labour 17 weeks early before welcoming the twins, who were so premature their eyes were still fused shut.
Talia and husband Oliver, 35, were warned the babies were so small they might not survive.
But the pair seemed to have beaten the odds when they returned to their home in Trowbridge, Wilts., at four-and-a-half months.
Tragically, Ashley was diagnosed with incurable pulmonary hypertension in November 2019, as a result of chronic lung disease that both twins suffered due to their prematurity.
Little Ashley passed away in January, aged just nine months, in the arms of his devastated mum.
Talia, a nurse, said: “It just doesn’t seem fair.
"They’d already been through so much and beaten the odds as a pair.
“At the time Ashley passed away, Joe woke up screaming in his cot at home. It breaks my heart they won’t get to grow up side by side.”
Image by: Tom Wren SWNS
Image by: Talia Keates
Talia and Oliver, a business owner, found out they were having twins in November 2018.
They ‘already had their hands full’ with four kids at home - Imogen, eight, Jacob, seven, Theo, six, and Sebastian, aged three - but were so excited to expand their happy family.
When they discovered they were twin boys at a later scan, they decided to name them Joe and Ashley, and set about buying matching baby grows for the pair.
But Talia began to bleed heavily at 17 weeks and was rushed to Royal United Hospital in Bath, Somerset.
Doctors couldn’t work out what was wrong so sent her home - but just three weeks later Talia’s waters broke in one of the amniotic sacs which contained Joe.
Although a termination was suggested, Talia held on until 23 weeks, when she finally went into labour and was warned that Joe, the larger of the two twins, would not survive.
Despite the odds, Joe and Ashley were delivered safely on April 16th 2019, at Southmead Hospital in Bristol, weighing just 403g and 429g respectively - each less than an iPad.
Both were rushed into critical care where they remained for a few months - and Talia couldn't even touch her newborns until they were five-weeks-old.
Talia said: "They were taken straight to the neonatal unit.
"It was awful, you never know if you are going to get a call to say they haven’t made it - if they are going to survive.
“Their skin was so fragile that our touch could have broken in - and their little eyes were fused shut as they were so underdeveloped.”
The babies spent 129 days in the unit, battling sepsis and various other complications, before being transferred to Royal United Hospital Bath, and then finally being allowed home in August 2019 when they were four-and-a-half months old.
The pair remained on oxygen as both been diagnosed with chronic lung disease due to their prematurity and under-developed organs.
But doctors assured that as the twins got bigger, their lungs would grow and they should beat the disease.
Image by: Talia Keates
Image by: Talia Keates
Talia added: “Joe was such a placid little baby, while Ashley had more of a temper.
“But the pair of them were like two peas in a pod, and it was magical to watch them and have them home.”
The family thought they were ‘out of the woods’ and on the way to a full recovery - but unfortunately that was not quite the case.
Talia and Oliver began to worry about Ashley, as he wasn’t putting on as much weight as Joe, and had always needed more oxygen than his brother.
They took him to Bristol Children’s Hospital in November 2019, and were given the devastating news that Ashley had pulmonary hypertension - a serious condition that can damage the heart and lead to heart failure.
It had been caused by the chronic lung disease the twins had had since birth, and the family were told it was incurable.
Just a short while later, Ashley was ventilated, until January 16th when doctors took the parents aside and told them that their little boy wasn't going to make it.
His lungs were too weak and they were told he would never breathe on his own.
That night, a nurse switched off the ventilator and placed Ashley in Talia’s arms.
“Oliver and I sobbed uncontrollably as we told Ashley how much we loved him,” Talia said.
“We cuddled him for 40 minutes, before our tiny boy passed away in my arms. He was only nine months old, and I will never get over the heartbreak.”
Talia’s mum, Linzey, 56, had stayed with their other children that night, and said that Joe had ‘felt it’ when Ashley passed away.
Talia added: “Mum told us that at the exact time Ashley left us, Joe had woken up in his cot, screaming. He knew his brother was gone.”
The family held Ashley's funeral on February 14th at their local church and carried him in a little white coffin draped in white flowers.
“The pain of losing him is with me every day, but I'm glad Ashley is no longer suffering,” Talia said.
“It feels so cruel - most of his life he was traumatised by invasive procedures, and for what?
“It’s horrible to say, but sometimes I wonder if it would have been better for him to have died at birth or for us to have gone ahead with the termination - but then we would have lost Joe too.
“You can’t let those decisions get you down though - we made them all for the right reasons.”
Joe is now one and weighs 11lb and is finally big enough to fit into the babygrow that Talia bought before he was born.
Talia keeps Ashley's outfit safely in a memory box given to her by a friend, which the family are filling with keepsakes for Joe to open when he turns 18 in memory of his lost twin.
“I know he misses his twin - we all do,” said Talia.
“They both fought so hard, and I will always be proud of that. Ashley may have lost his battle, but he will always be in our hearts.”
HEARTBREAKING DANCE - Dad has shared a heartbreaking video showing the final dance he shared with his four-year-old girl before she suddenly passed away
Image by: John Newton
A grieving dad has shared a heartbreaking video showing the final dance he shared with his four-year-old daughter before she suddenly passed away last week.
Doting John Newton, 39, can be seen dancing around the room with his poorly daughter, Charlotte Grace, laughing and smiling in his arms.
The emotional footage was captured before Charlotte, who suffered from several medical issues, died on Wednesday evening (April 22).
John, from Barnsley, South Yorks., said despite the problems Charlotte faced, she never let them hold her back and always lived life to the fullest.
The video, John added, shows his daughter as he would like her to be remembered and taken a few months before she died.
He said: "She was such a happy little girl who woke up each day with a love for life, a beautiful little girl who brought joy into the lives of everyone she encountered in life.
"The video of us dancing shows what an amazing girl she was, always smiling."
Charlotte battled numerous health issues from birth, including stage five kidney disease, liver disease, a rare genetic disorder and heart problems.
Last Wednesday she was at home with her family, including mum Rachel, 37, and sister Emily, seven, when her condition drastically deteriorated and she suddenly died from complications relating to her various illnesses.
John said only five minutes before Charlotte she fell ill and was rushed to hospital she was speaking to her grandparents on FaceTime.
Image by: John Newton
Image by: John Newton
Image by: John Newton
At the time of her death the four-year-old girl, who loved Disney films and Spiderman, was on the transplant list for a combined liver and kidney transplant.
The potentially life-changing operation would have taken place at Birmingham Children's Hospital.
John said: "The sudden loss of our baby girl has been devastating and heartbreaking for us and has left us in complete bits.
"We knew from the time Charlotte was born that every minute with her would be precious, we tried to remain positive and look to the future.
"We had always hoped that she would be one of those miracle cases, who lives a long and happy life but it wasn't to be."
John, who is training to be a teacher, said he broke the news to his other daughter Emily, who is autistic and deaf, this week.
He added: "We told her Charlotte isn't hurting anymore and that she is a star up in the sky.
"The two of them had such a wonderful bond so we will have to see how Emily is affected."
John said he shared the dancing video to show the world what kind of girl Charlotte was.
He added: "We would like everyone to know how beautiful and loved she was."
A fundraising page has been set up in memory of Charlotte, to help support the Newton family through the tragedy.
Donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/charlottes-go-fund-me
Video by: John Newton
Rock fan dad given surprise performance after unborn baby makes heavy metal sign during a baby scan
Image by: Tom Dowie
A rock fan dad was given a surprise performance after his unborn baby was seen making a heavy metal sign in the womb during a baby scan.
Tom Dowie, 29, and fiancée Caitlin Welsh, 28 were at their 19 week scan last month when their unborn baby gave them the 'sign of the horns'.
The cheeky baby appeared to be holding up its index and little finger while holding its other fingers - looking exactly like the heavy metal rock sign.
The couple said the sonographer allowed the couple to take a picture as she had not seen anything like it during her 20-year career.
The surprised pair from Glasgow, Scotland, are leaving the sex of their baby a surprise until the due date in March.
Self-employed businessman Tom, said: "The sonographer said she had been doing it for almost 20 years and had never seen anything like this.
"I'm an old school heavy metal fan so this really is quite something.
"I listen to old school bands like Slayer, Megadeth and Sylosis and Panthers.
"So I'm pretty chuffed he or she will take after their dad.
"At the last scan the baby was just flipping about.
"He or she was seemed very keen to just get out.
"We looked over at the screen and saw the hand.
"We were just really quite shocked."
Image by: Tom Dowie
Image by: Tom Dowie
The couple - who run beard grooming company Bedfordshire Beard Co together, had brought daughter Freya, 2, along with them at the scan on 2 November at private clinic Baby Stepps.
Caitlyn said: "Obviously when Tom blares out his heavy metal when we're working the baby seems to be enjoying it.
"We've shown Freya and she knows she's getting a little brother or sister.
"She doesn't really have much to say on the hand gesture but she knows we find it all rather funny.
"We were just so shocked when we saw it.
"We just had to get a photo as a keepsake.
"We're very excited to meet him or her."
Police release recording of 999 call where a woman complains about her hairdresser dying her hair orange
Image by: Ellis Wylam
Police have released a recording of a ridiculous 999 call where a woman rang to complain about her hairdresser - dying her hair ORANGE.
The woman complained how the stylist was supposed to dye her hair yellow - so she'd left without paying.
The recording was released by Devon and Cornwall Police as part of their ClickB4Ucall campaign.
They are trying to educate people on what they should be calling 999 about - and want to highlight that hairdresser disputes are not life-threatening emergencies.
In the audio, the woman can be heard telling the call handler that she is in a hairdressers and had asked for blonde highlights.
She goes on to say: "She put orange in my hair. I'm leaving her hairdresser but I'm not paying her any money because my hair is orange."
However, she is bluntly reminded of what the emergency number is for.
The call handler says: "You do not call 999 to report things like having mistakes done with your hair.
"It's obviously a civil dispute. It's not a police matter, it's a dispute between you and your hairdresser.
"You need to sort it out. I'm not listening to this call on 999 I'm afraid."
It's part of a campaign from Devon and Cornwall Police to prevent the valuable time of emergency call takers being wasted.
Video by: Ellis Wylam
Six-year-old girl saves mother's life after spotting she was having a stroke on a plane - caused by the take off
Image by: Lorna Hajipaulis
A six-year-old girl saved her mother's life after she spotted she was having a stroke on a plane - caused by the take off.
Alexandra Hajipaulis, 39, was on a Ryanair flight to Crete with her daughter Jaideen when she suffered an ischemic stroke.
It is thought to have been caused by a bubble of air in a vein which travelled up to her brain when the air pressure changed during the plane's ascent.
Brave Jaideen noticed her mum was unconscious and alerted an air hostess.
Thankfully, a doctor sitting behind Alex recognised her symptoms as a stroke and ordered staff to land the plane, where she was then rushed to hospital in a coma.
Alex, from Wolverhampton, is now paralysed completely in both legs and her left arm - but is grateful that her little girl's swift actions saved her life.
Her mother Lorna Hajipaulis, 66, has moved back to the UK from Crete to care for her daughter and two grandchildren full time.
Alex said: "Jaideen saved my life - she knew something was wrong, she got me help even though she was only six years old at the time, I'm so proud of her."
Before her stroke, museum worker Alex was a happy and healthy mother of two living in Wolverhampton.
On 17 July 2018, she boarded a plane to visit her mother Lorna at her home in Crete, Greece, taking her Jaideen with her.
Halfway into the flight, Alex collapsed in her seat - leaving her six year old daughter to alert an air hostess to her unconscious mother.
The flight made an emergency stop in Italy where Alex was rushed to hospital immediately from the airport in a coma.
She underwent hemicraniectomy surgery the next day where a large flap of the skull is removed and the dura is opened to give space for the swollen brain to bulge, reducing the intracranial pressure.
The young mum was then in a coma for 10 days while Lorna travelled to Italy.
Lorna said: "I heard from Alex that she'd boarded the plane and then just a few hours later, someone rang me from the hospital to say she'd had a stroke.
"I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but before I knew it, I was on the next flight to Italy and racing to the hospital.
"We didn't know if she'd pull through, and everybody was speaking Italian and telling us it was going to cost thousands to save Alex.
"I had to reach out to relatives and even set up a GoFundMe page to raise the £25,000 needed to get Alex home to the UK.
"Alex didn't have the right kind of insurance that would cover what happened to her, and so we had to suddenly raise all this money to get her home safe."
Image by: Lorna Hajipaulis
Image by: Lorna Hajipaulis
Image by: Lorna Hajipaulis
Alex's stroke is thought to have been caused by an air embolism secondary to a bronchogenic cyst.
This is where a previously undetected lung cyst ruptures inside the body due to air pressure rapidly changing, such as in a plane or a submarine.
The rupture of the cyst causes an air embolism to travel to the brain and leads to sufferers experiencing either a stroke or a coma.
Alex spent a month in the hospital in Italy before she was repatriated to ITU at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on 13 August 2018.
Due to the nature of her stroke, Alex's flight home had to be at a lower level than normal to reduce the chances of her having another stroke.
She stayed at the hospital for six weeks before she was moved to a rehab centre in Wolverhampton in October 2018.
Lorna then moved Alex home for nine months before she was offered a place at a care home in September this year, where she remains.
"The stroke has completely changed my life - it's ruined my life," Alex said.
"I can't walk any more, I'm stuck in bed, I can't work, I miss being a mum to my girls.
"Before this happened to me, I was having two showers a day, but I haven't even had one since my stroke and that was 17 months ago.
"I was completely unconscious on the plane and then for the whole time I was in Italy so I can't remember what happened.
"I didn't even speak until six weeks after my stroke, I was completely out of it."
Lorna added: "Alex has been left feeling disabled and suicidal following her stroke and the care she has received.
"It's been 17 months since Alex had her stroke and she's deteriorating both physically and mentally rather than being on the road to recovery.
"The care homes that she has stayed at haven't had the facilities needed to wash someone of Alex's size properly, so she hasn't had a bath or shower in a year and a half.
"She's only getting under an hour of daily physiotherapy Monday to Friday where she's staying right now and it's just not enough to help get her back on her feet which is what she wants to do.
"I did pay for some private physiotherapy which was amazing, we couldn't afford to keep it going although I wish we could have.
"I just want someone to help my daughter, she's just been left to suffer after her stroke and I'm so angry to see her being reduced to living like this.
"Alex is a 40 year old woman with two daughters, she just wants to go home and be a mum to her children again and go back to work so she can be a contributing member of society, but she can't do that.
"The stroke has completely changed my daughter's life and I'm angry that she has not received the help she needs which is affecting her mental health massively.
"It seems that if you're under 40 and you have a stroke, you just get stuck in a home and forgotten about - I'm sure Alex isn't the only one to have experienced this.
"We just want someone to help her. Alex doesn't like being like this, she wants to work, she still has feeling in her legs, she just needs help.
"We are convinced that with the right physiotherapy, Alex could walk again - that's all we want to happen."
Easter eggs have already hit the shelves - over 100 days before they will be consumed
Image by: Tom Maddick SWNS
Easter eggs have already hit the shelves - more than 100 days before they will be eaten.
The Co-op started displaying its range of chocolate eggs just two days after Christmas.
Several bemused shoppers said the rapid turnaround from the festive period to Easter products was 'ridiculous'.
The shelves in the Southwell Notts., and Cottingham, East Yorks., are among those now stacked with chocolate eggs, bunnies and chicks more than three months until Easter Sunday falls on April 12 next year.
Shopper, Charlotte Donnelly, 33, said: "It's like the shops are wishing our lives away.
"We had Christmas preparations from September onwards and now we're all just recovering from that we're being made to think about April already. It's ridiculous."
Image by: Tom Maddick SWNS
Image by: Tom Maddick SWNS
Image by: Tom Maddick SWNS
Friendly looking Easter bunnies and chicks are being sold on lollies for just a pound and Lindt chocolate bunnies are going for £2.50.
But mum-of-two Samantha Tide, 45, thinks just after Christmas is the wrong time to be promoting them.
She said: "It's so frustrating to be met with all these new chocolates when you're in a shop with your kids.
"All they want are eggs or chocolate lollipops because you can't get away from them.
"I'm partial to a Cadburys Creme Egg myself but not in January when the diet starts. Give me until March or April and I'll definitely be off the wagon and ready to buy one."
SILLY SAUSAGE - Woman rang cops to complain that she’d been sent three portions of saveloy and chips instead of one
Video by: Gabriella Petty
A woman rang 999 to complain that she’d been sent three portions of saveloy and chips instead of one.
It was among more than 25,000 time-wasting calls received by the Met Police in London this year.
A recording of several 999 calls where the incident being reported was far from an emergency - many of them verging on the bizarre - has been released by police chiefs.
Among the more ridiculous calls was a woman who phoned the emergency hotline to complain that she had been sent three portions of saveloy and chips from her local chippy, instead of one.
In the recording, the woman can be heard saying: “I only ordered one saveloy and chips. They have sent me three saveloy and chips.”
Other calls singled out for time-wasting by the police include a man who phoned 999 to ask what time it was, and another who called to complain that a packet of biscuits he had bought were out of date.
Officers said that the calls, as well as wasting police time and resources, potentially put Londoners in life or death situations at risk.
Between January 1 and November 30, the Met’s Command and Control call centre received well over two million calls.
Of those calls, more than 25,000 were hung up on by call handlers after being identified as a hoax.
People in non-urgent situations who need the police are encouraged to call 101, rather than 999, or tweet the Met.
Chief Superintendent David Jackson, who is in charge of call handling for the Met, said: “Although these calls can be perceived as amusing, they are actually a huge waste of the Met’s resources.
“These hoax calls block the number from other members of the public who could be calling 999 in a real emergency, keeping people in danger waiting for longer and putting lives at risk."
He added: “If you are in a situation where you need to speak to the police, please think.
“The use of the 999 system is for emergencies only and we have other channels where you can speak with us.”
Registrar at one of UK’s first mixed sex civil partnership ceremonies described the moment as 'simple but historic'
Image by: Tony Kershaw SWNS
A heterosexual couple who won a Supreme Court battle to have a civil partnership rather than a wedding celebrated their legal union today.
Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan, who campaigned for mixed sex civil partnerships, were among first to register at Kensington and Chelsea Register Office in west London.
The couple walked into the Register Office this morning with their two daughters Eden, four, and two-year-old Ariel.
Charles and Rebecca’s parents and their two children attended the partnership as well as the couple’s witnesses and long term friends Melanie Pilbrow and Oma Sallnger.
The couple had a basic civil partnership costing just £46 with around a dozen guests present.
Speaking after the partnership ceremony, Rebecca said: “It feels fantastic on a personal and a political level.
“We are feminists and we see each other as civil partners.
“We did not want to have to get married, become Mr and Mrs, husband and wife.”
The couple stood on the steps of the Register Office where they told of their love for one another and their success in ending the unrivalled position of marriage.
Rebecca said: “We’ve just signed the Register here at Kensington and Chelsea Register Office, and have formed a civil partnership with each other...finally.
“Today, as one decade ends and another dawns, we have become civil partners in law.
“Our personal wish to form a civil partnership was rooted in our desire to formalise our relationship in a more modern way, focused on equality and mutual respect.
“So today is a unique, special and personal moment for us - a moment when we have been able to affirm our love and commitment to one another in the company of our beautiful children, Eden and Ariel, and close friends, and have that love and commitment given legal recognition in the way that best reflects who we are, what we love and the life we value.”
She added: “Thousands of other people across the country will be forming civil partnerships of their own in the coming decade.
“What began as a personal issue has become so much more than that. There is now a space for new, more modern possibilities for people to express their love and commitment to one another.
“The urgent need to reform cohabitation law so that social policy keeps up with the reality of family life in modern Britain has been brought into greater focus.
“And by ending the unrivalled position of marriage we have helped to create the space for deeper discussions about giving legal recognition to other types of personal and caring relationships, such as those between friends, siblings and co-parents.
“There’s no social script to civil partnerships and you can do whatever feels right for you. Some couples will want to celebrate with an elaborate ceremony and big party. But the beauty is that you can form them at minimal cost, without fanfare.
“Charlie, I hope that you and I, and Eden and Ariel, enjoy many years of civilly partnered life together! I love you.”
Her partner Charlie said the couple’s mental health and ability to be civil to one another was tested through their long journey which they finally succeeded in “against all odds.”
He said: “Becca and I have shared much joy, and supported each other through the strains of life, and loss.
“We have gained so much through the years of trying to become civil partners – new friends, skills - even notoriety - but also confidence and belief in our own agency and capability.
“Against all odds, we succeeded in a legal battle against the government and then they did what we asked for all along. Not many people can say that.
“But we both know that with everything gained, some things risked being lost, or at least un-spoken. Through this long journey and hard fought battle, our mental health has suffered, our ability to be civil to each other has been tested, and, crucially, we missed out on that important moment to state clearly what we mean to each other - not just what we’ve become in the eyes of others.
“So we are grateful to, and wish to thank, everyone who has supported us on this journey so that we could finally do that in private a few moments ago.”
Ben Rich, the couple’s campaign strategist, described Rebecca and Charlie as the couple who changed that.
He said their basic civil partnership registration cost just £46 and has the same legal protection as marriage.
He said: “We are aware of at least 80 and this is the couple who changed that.
“We are aware of at least 80 mixed sex civil partnerships going on today and this is the couple who changed that.
“We think the first that took place today was in Carmarthenshire Wales where the register office did it at midnight.
“We think there will be at least 1,000 today and the government estimate 84,000 in the first year.
“We have been running this campaign for tha beat part of five years.
“I have been married for 25 years and recognise people will continue to choose marriage but it comes with a lot of expectations.
“This is an opportunity for them to create their own tradition and they want to show this is a very easy thing you can do.
“If you want to spend the equivalent of a house on a marriage, that is one option but you can also do it for £46 and this is giving you the same legal protection as marriage.
“This is new and we can make this whatever we want it to be and I love that.”
Image by: Tony Kershaw SWNS
The couple, from Shepherd’s Bush in west London, have two daughters Eden, four, and Ariel, two, whose surname Keidstein is a merger of each of their parents’ last names.
But when Rebecca and Charlie gave notice of their civil partnership, they were told their children would be considered illigitimate and that they would have to reregister their births.
Rebecca, a campaigner and researcher, said: “We were told when we gave notice of our partnership that we would need to reregister the births of our children on the basis any children born before our civil partnership would be considered illegitimate.
“We will not be doing that. We think that is an archaic law.
“We are not sure if we will actively campaign against it but we will not be reregistering the births.”
Rebecca and Charlie, who are both Jewish, met at a lecture about Gaza.
The couple battled through five years and three court cases before finally becaming civil partners today.
Rebecca said: “We would say that we felt very strongly about becoming civil partners because we already saw each other as civil partners in life.
“We wanted to have that legal and financial protection, formalising a relationship of equals.
“We did not feel we could do that by getting married. We felt there would be a lot of social expectation and pressure from a gender point of view and we did not want to have that.
“Sadly it took five years and three court cases but we are here today.”
Charlie said: “The opportunity came to change the law by coming here and trying to form a civil partnership.
“But we were turned away because we were not the same sex and that led to our legal battle and the rest is history.”
The couple said they felt privileged to be able to fight for their beliefs but that it came at a price and took its toll of Charles’ mental health.
Charlie, a magazine editor, said: “It is inevitable. Since we started this we have had two children, we have mixed home multiple times, we are both trying to hold down jobs in charities. Doing these things together obviously comes with huge pressures.
“After we won in court unanimously, after the law changed, it started to feel very very tired in ways I just could not explain. I think I was just burnt out physically and mentally.
“I spoke to the doctor and to my employer and took five weeks off work really just to recover from everything we had been through. It has not just been tough for me, it has been tough for Rebecca as well.
“But it has been good that we have had a chance since the law changed in April to have that period of calm and reflect.
“I don’t regret it but it has been tough, it has come at a cost and at a price.”
Rebecca added: “We lost the high court, we lost at the court of appeal and it was difficult to keep going.
“But we knew we had a lot of people supporting us and it meant a lot to them too so we kept going.
“We has people across the country saying they wanted to be able to form a civil partnership.
“Then we had the Supreme Court’s unanimous five-nil verdict, we felt very vindicated.
“We are very privileged to have been able to take this case up with legal aid. The journey in many ways has been very positive in terms of the people we have met and the insightfulness we have had campaigning.”
When asked what is next in their campaigning, the couple told of further necessary reforms that are close to their hearts.
Charlie said: “There are issues around cohabitation reform and for people who are cohabitants.
“There are 3.5 million cohabitant couples in this country without protection.
“Also, I have been very conscious of the role models we try to be as parents. I have noticed there are no male carers at the children’s nursery - not one.
“We have kept our own names and our children’s names have been fused. We have tried to set a tone in that way. They are family related issues we can address.
“We met at a lecture about Gaza, we are both Jewish, and we feel there are serious issues that need to be addressed about that.”
The couple plan to celebrate their civil partnership with a small group of family and friends at a local pub before Charlie returns to work on Friday.
He added: “I hope Rebecca and I, Eden and Ariel enjoy many years of civil partnership life together.”
Image by: Tony Kershaw SWNS
The registrar of one of the UK’s first mixed sex civil partnerships, who married the country’s first same sex couple, described today's moment as 'simple but historic'.
Rebecca Steinfeld, 38, and Charles Keidan, 43, signed the register of their civil partnership at Kensington and Chelsea register office today after five years of legal battles and three court cases.
Steven Lord said it was a real honour to be a part of people’s special day “especially when they have had to fight for the legal right.“
The registrar of 12 years was also the registrar of the UK’s first same sex marriage at Camden’s register office at a midnight wedding in March 2014.
He said: “It was a very simple signing of the register with the couple chosing one of our smallest rooms, but it was a very historic moment.
“It is a real honour to be doing the first same sex marriage and then one of the first mixed sex couple partnerships.
“And it is a real honour to be a part of people’s special day, especially when they have had to fight for the legal right.
“I was the registrar of one of the first same saved marriages in March 2014, I was a registrar at Camden at the time where I did one at midnight.
“And today, Charles and Rebecca signed the register on the first morning of the new legislation so that is a great pleasure.”
Video by: Ashley Moran
Firefighter needed open heart surgery after getting POPCORN stuck in his teeth which led to life-threatening infection
Image by: Adam Martin
A firefighter needed open heart surgery when he got a potentially-fatal blood infection -
after getting POPCORN stuck in his teeth.
Adam Martin, 41, was “on death’s door” after the deadly infection attacked his heart and left him fighting for life.
He contracted an infection called endocarditis after he struggled to dislodge the piece of popcorn stuck between his teeth.
Endocarditis occurs when germs from another part of your body, such as the mouth, spread through the bloodstream and damage areas of the heart.
Doctors quizzed him about a possible cause and the only thing Adam can think might have caused the infection is his constant wiggling and poking at the food lodged in his teeth.
Adam said he stuck everything from a pen lid, tooth pick, a piece of wire and even a metal nail in his mouth in a desperate attempt to remove the popcorn.
The constant playing around with his mouth caused toothache after he damaged his gum, but instead of going to the dentist, he did nothing.
A week later Adam developed night sweats, fatigue, headaches and eventually a heart murmur, which are all signs of the infection.
Father-of-three Adam, from Coverack, Cornwall, said: “The doctors told me if I hadn’t gone to the GP when I did then I could have been dead in three days.
“Most people die when they are at 350 on an infection scale and I was at 340. The infection had eaten my heart valves completely.
“If I had gone to the dentist in the first place then none of this would have happened. At one point it was quite touch and go. It was the worst experience of my life.
“I wasn’t far off death’s door and I am extremely lucky. The popcorn stuck in my teeth is the only possible cause I can think of. I am never eating popcorn again that’s for sure.”
Adam’s life-threatening ordeal started when he shared a bag of popcorn while watching a film with his wife, Helen, 38, at the end of September.
The popcorn stuck in a tooth in the back left of his mouth, drove him crazy for three days and no matter how hard he tried, could not dislodge it.
Adam admits he playing around with his gum with random things he found lying around to dislodge it.
A week later Adam developed what appeared to be a cold, which then turned into what was assumed to be flu, and on October 7 he went to his GP.
Image by: Adam Martin
Image by: Adam Martin
Image by: Adam Martin
Image by: Adam Martin
Image by: Adam Martin
The doctors diagnosed a mild heart murmur and sent him for blood tests and x-rays, which came back showing nothing more significant than slightly raised inflammation markers.
Adam was sent home with medication to recover under his own steam, but a few days later, he was still experiencing flu-like symptoms.
He also developed a blood blister on his toe - which was later diagnosed as a Janeway lesion, an external indication of infective endocarditis.
Endocarditis is an infection of the endocardium, which is the inner lining of the heart chambers and heart valves.
It can lead to bacteria spreading through the bloodstream and damaging areas in the heart. If it's not treated quickly, endocarditis can damage or destroy heart valves.
Worried about his worsening current condition, Adam went to the Royal Cornwall Hospital on October 18.
He said: “I had a feeling there was something seriously wrong. I was sleeping an awful lot and I felt terrible.
“I had aches and pains in my legs and I just did not feel right at all. I was admitted to hospital the same day for tests. By this point I was very worried.
“I felt quite ill and I knew I was not right at all.”
The muscle ache in his leg turned out to be an infected clot, wedged in his femoral artery which required a five hour operation to clear.
Adam was being treated with medication to fight the infection but chest scans revealed his heart had been severely damaged - and would need an urgent operation.
He was transferred to Derriford Hospital on October 21 and had seven hour open heart surgery to replace his aortic valve and repair his mitral valve, damaged by the infection.
Adam said: “My heart was not properly working anymore. It was essentially wrecked. The infection had eaten the valves away.
“I should have just gone to the dentist in the first place. I don’t want anyone to go through what I have done.
“It all happened so quickly and it did get sketchy. I won’t be going near popcorn again, that’s for sure.
“It’s crazy to think all this happened because of that. It was something so trivial."
Adam made a quick recovery following surgery and returned home to his wife, Helen, and three children Megan, 15, Holly, 14 and George, seven, at the end of October.
Teaching assistant Helen said: “Any sign of toothache, bleeding gums, abscess - get it checked out!
“It is also well worth noting the date in case you get ‘flu like symptoms’. If Adam’s infection was caught earlier it could have been treated with antibiotics.
“Your gums are a bacterial highway to your heart.”
An 11-year-old schoolboy needed emergency surgery when he broke both his legs after jumping over a puddle into a road – only to be hit by an oncoming car
Image by: John Kent
A schoolboy needed emergency surgery when he broke both his legs after jumping over a puddle into a road – only to be hit by an oncoming car.
Max Kent was airlifted to hospital and rushed into theatre after breaking both his thigh bones in the horror accident as he got off a school bus just metres from his house.
The 11-year-old talented footballer and street dancer was getting off the bus with his sister Francesca, 14, when he noticed a pool of water in the road.
He leapt over the puddle to cross the road as the bus pulled away, but jumped into the path of an oncoming car that he did not see, causing the double bone break.
Max was whisked to hospital by helicopter, where surgeons carried out an emergency operation to insert metal plates in one leg and a pin in the other.
Despite the accident taking place near York, medics decided he needed specialist surgery that could only be carried out at Leeds General Infirmary's trauma centre.
He spent ten days in hospital before being allowed home in a wheelchair to continue his recovery.
A police investigation found that nobody was to blame for the accident as neither Max nor the car driver could see each other due to the bus.
Max's dad John Kent, 54, relived the horror of the phone call he received from his wife Karen telling him of the incident, which happened on October 24.
Mr Kent, of York, North Yorks., said: "Francesca called my wife who went to out to see Max on the floor.
“My wife called me at work and said I needed to get home immediately. I didn't know what I was going to see when I got there.
"All sorts go through your mind as a parent when you hear your son has been hit by a car.
“By the time I got there, the doctor was already on the scene and had called the Yorkshire Air Ambulance because of the severity of the injuries.
Image by: John Kent
Image by: John Kent
Image by: John Kent
“The paramedics treating Max covered him up with blankets. I could just see his legs.
“York was the nearest hospital, but Leeds was the best place for him to go.
“His life wasn't in danger, but in terms of what they were able to do, the air ambulance was critical to getting him the right care in the right place quickly.
“What we don't know is what could have happened if the air ambulance didn't take him to Leeds.
“We didn't know if there were any internal injuries or how badly broken his legs were.
“Both his thighs were broken and they needed to operate quickly. A plate was inserted in the left leg to restructure the bone and a pin down the other."
Keen footballer Max has been unable to play the sport he loves as he recovers from his injuries and has also been unable to take the family dog Pawthos for a walk near their house.
But he managed to take part in the family's traditional ice skating trip on Boxing Day and is hopeful that he can take the stage in an upcoming pantomime his dad has organised as part of his association with amateur dramatic club the Deadpan Players.
Half of the proceeds will be given to the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, which relies on charitable donations to fulfill more than 1,800 missions every year with two state-of-the-art Airbus H145 helicopters.
John added: "It has had a huge impact on his life. He's a very active and mobile young lad usually.
“Football is his great love, but he can't do that for a while as he is stuck in a wheelchair.
"He is unable to take our dog Pawthos for a walk across the fields where we live as the fields are linked and surrounded by muddy farm tracks which are unpassable in the wheelchair.
"His recovery is going steady.
“We managed to go ice skating on Boxing Day as a family and the Winter Wonderland were extremely accommodating allowing Max to enjoy the session in his chair.
“We are hoping he will be up and about by spring or summer time."
