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Shaun and Rhys Scott. Their parents said they had been "taken from us far too early and will be forever missed and loved".
The parents of two-year-old twin boys who drowned after falling into a
fish pond at their home in Scotland have paid tribute to their "miracle
babies" as it emerged the children were conceived using IVF.
Sarah
Aitken, 32, and Mervyn Scott said their "long-awaited little soldiers"
had been "full of love, happiness, fun and cheek" and they had been left
devastated by the "freak" accident.
In a statement issued by
Police Scotland, they said their sons, Shaun and Rhys Scott, had been
"taken from us far too early and will be forever missed and loved."
Senior
sources confirmed the "miracle babies" description was a reference to
them having been conceived using IVF. Around one in six IVF pregnancies
result in a multiple birth, whereas natural conceptions of twins occur
in about one in 80 cases.
Officers are continuing to support the
family and enquiries are being carried out to establish the full
circumstances in which they boys died.
Emergency services were
called to the scene in Dalgety Bay, Fife, on Saturday after the boys
were found. They were taken to Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy where they
were pronounced dead.
The twins' parents said: "We would like to
thank everyone for their support at this unfortunate and difficult
time. We have special thanks to all the medical staff, family, friends,
neighbours and the police for their efforts, hard work and time spent
helping and trying to revive our miracle babies.
"Both boys were
long awaited little soldiers who were full of love, happiness, fun and
cheek. Individually and together they have touched the lives of everyone
they met.
"We along with our family and friends are still in
shock and devastated at such a tragic loss from such a 'freak' accident.
They have been taken from us far too early and will be forever missed
and loved. We wish to be left alone and be given the privacy needed to
grieve."
It is understood the family only recently moved into the
rented home and the previous resident, Keith Henderson, ran a koi
supply business from the property that required the installation of a
fish tank at the side of the property.
The ornamental fish are collected by enthusiasts and tend to require large, deep ponds.
Devastated friends placed flowers outside the family home in a quiet cul-de-sac.
One said: "Rest in peace little ones. Hold each other's hands and stay close."
Another said: "Rest in peace lovely ones."
Keith
McKinlay, 50, a Gulf War veteran who used to live beside the couple
said: "Merv worked at the industrial estate in Dalgety Bay and so did
Sarah. They are just laid back and a lovely couple and so easy to talk
to. They were easy going and pleasant and did so much for me.
"I'm
still in shock. You can't put that into words. Sarah must be devastated
because she is quite a sensitive person. It must be devastating for the
both of them.
"I know she wanted children and that she was
chuffed when she found out they were expecting twins. Why take it away
from her? It's just so unfair.
"I know they were trying hard to get the kids. I know she wanted kids but that there was some problem." He added: "They will both be devastated. It's so unfair. It should not happen to anybody. My heart goes out to them."
Officers are supporting the family and working to establish the full circumstances of the incident.
"He did not talk to me, he did not explain to me what he was doing...he seemed to completely ignore me as if I didn't count."
This was how I felt when the specialist treated me when I was admitted to antenatal care.
Auckland doctor accused of negligence after baby dies
An experienced Auckland doctor is alleged to have ignored the advice of colleagues, leading to the death of an unborn baby.
The doctor, who has interim name suppression, appeared before the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal on Monday.
He was in charge of the mother's care in October 2011 when she arrived at North Shore hospital after her waters broke.
The pregnancy was the woman's fifth and she was deemed high risk because of her age.
Just after 9pm a cardiotocograph (CTG) recorded a low heart rate in the baby and the doctor was called into the room.
The
charge against the doctor alleges the baby was suffering from a
condition known as prolonged bradycardia, which is when the heart rate
has fallen below 100 beats per minute and remains that way for more than
five minutes. It requires urgent medical attention.
Director of
proceedings Nicola Wills said the accepted practice for an obstetrician
is to make preparations for urgent delivery if a baby has been
bradycardic for more than three minutes and move to an emergency
caesarean section if the heart rate has not recovered in nine minutes.
But
in this case the doctor failed to recognise and respond to the
situation for a period of 29 minutes before calling for an emergency
caesarean section.
The baby was eventually delivered stillborn.
Giving
evidence through tears, the mother said she was frightened by the
doctor's manner when he arrived in the delivery room, describing him as
"grumpy" and "aggressive".
"He did not talk to me, he did not explain to me what he was doing...he seemed to completely ignore me as if I didn't count."
The doctor said that throughout the day when the mother was in hospital, he consulted frequently with her midwife.
But
the midwife denied this, claiming the doctor only called into the
midwives' office a few hours before the incident, stating he wanted to
go and watch the Rugby World Cup semifinal in a nearby room.
In
her submission, Wills said the doctor either did not understand one of
the most basic and fundamental core competencies of an obstetrician or
chose to ignore it.
It is alleged the doctor did not speak to the
mother or her husband at all during the ordeal, including explaining the
baby's heart rate, what it meant, what her options were or what he
recommended.
After the CTG recording the doctor decided to wait
for a registrar to arrive before performing a lactate, a blood test of
the baby that would confirm fetal compromise.
When the registrar
arrived she immediately recognised the seriousness of the situation and
told the doctor a caesarean section should be performed.
He refused and insisted on a lactate test, which eventually returned bad results. But by then it was too late.
The hearing continues this week.
Six in 10 families refused to
donate an eligible loved one's organs last year, the highest rejection
rate in the world according to one campaigner.
File Picture.
Source: istock.com
Organ donation was possible for 367
deaths last year according to GiveLife NZ but organ donation was only
discussed with the family in 135 instances, or 37 per cent of the time.
The number of remaining potential donors shrinks further when families have their say with 61 per cent saying no.
Overall, there were just 53 donors in New Zealand in 2015.
In order for an organ donation to be possible, two separate sets of brain death assessments need to be carried out by doctors.
Organ donation is then discussed with the family.
"It turns out that three of the
53 donors didn't actually donate any organs to anyone so the figures
are massaged upwards to make a very, very poor system look like just a
very poor system," organ donation campaigner Andy Tookey said.
"It must be clearly understood:
New Zealand will never have a world-class donation and transplantation
service if more than six out of every 10 families say no to donation."
New Zealand is in the lower
half of organ donors according to the international registry of organ
donation and transplantation IRODaT.
No wonder the hospital and doctors were very grateful when I consented to donate Andrew's body for science. Every now and then, they came to ask me if I had changed my mind.
When we finally handed Andrew's dead body, the nursing manager took Andrew and said,"On behalf of the hospital, I thank you for Andrew." It was only much later, I learn that people didn't want to give their loved ones' body. And why did I agreed to give away Andrew's body? I rationalised that Andrew was no use to me, I might as well let him be useful to Science. Did I regret? I did for a while because I had to give him up when I wanted to spend more time with him, and also I was counseled not to view him because they would have cut him up and it would be too gruesome to view him.
His mum and dad, Graeme, were still coming to terms with the sudden
death of their eldest son. "He was a 13-year-old boy and he just went to
sleep one night -- this was on Saturday -- and he never woke up. For
some unknown reason his heart stopped. He had a big heart, he had just
had a full day at athletics. In our eyes he was very talented and a hero
and he just didn't wake up," Mrs Carran said.
