I walked in to see my precious twin boy wrapped in a sheet on our lounge floor | Kidspot

2022-08-20 03:34:22 By : Ms. Alice Alice

A Brisbane mother recalls the late night call from her husband that would change their lives forever.

Allanah blew a kiss to her two-year-old son, Lachlan, and five-month-old twins, Benji and Freya, as she left to go to a work function one Friday afternoon.

“It was just like any other day,” the 30-year-old says of the moment she will never forget on June 24.

“I said, ‘See ya’ to the kids, my husband and mother–in law and walked out the door.”

The Brisbane mother expected to return home the following morning after staying at the home of her parents, who operate the business she works for on the Sunshine Coast.

“Mornings were my favourite time with the kids,” she says.

“Benji would always wake up full of energy. That day, he woke up with the biggest smile. He was so happy to see me. That vision will never leave my mind.”

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Allanah did not return to her home the following day.

Instead, that evening, at 10.30pm, she answered a phone call from her husband that is every parent’s worst nightmare.

“Tauu called me and said, ‘It’s Benji. He’s dead’,” she remembers, tears welling up in her eyes.

“I couldn’t even understand what was going on. I thought, ‘This is not right’. I asked him,‘What’s going on?’ He just said, ‘I have to call you back, I have to talk to the police’. Then I just burst into tears... I was in shock and still am.”

RELATED: Mum loses daughter to SIDS

An hour earlier, at 9.30pm, Tauu’s mother, Myra, was woken by Freya gurgling through the baby monitor, and went into the twins’ room - where they slept in separate cots - expecting to start preparing their night-time bottle.

But when she looked into Benji’s cot and saw her grandson face down on the mattress, her world instantly shattered.

“She noticed he was already heavy and blue, and screamed out for Tauu,” Allanah says.

“Tauu had tried to give him CPR but he was already cold.”

Paramedics worked on the baby boy for 30 minutes, but could not revive him.

“He had already gone...”

RELATED: Baby dies from SIDS while at daycare

In the hour-long journey to her home late that night, the mother-of-three prayed and hoped that the phone calls she received were a “dream” and “some cruel joke”.

But when she saw an ambulance and police cars lining her street, reality “hit” her.

“I didn’t want to hear people telling me, ‘So sorry for your loss’,” she says, her voice shaking.

“I just couldn’t stop crying. I just had to see Benji. I felt like maybe I could do something to bring him back.”

RELATED: Everything you need to know about SIDS

When she saw her precious baby boy, who was so full of life just hours earlier, lifeless and wrapped in a white sheet on her lounge room floor, Allanah took him onto her arms with all the love that she had.

“I held onto his hands, which were so cold, I thought, ‘Maybe if I hold onto them, he might come back’,” she emotionally remembers.

“He was so peaceful. He looked like he was asleep. But he was gone. I told him that I was sorry and that I loved him.”

Allanah and Tauu made sure their children’s beds were always safe sleep environments.

“There was just a cot, mattress and fitted sheet - which I always made sure was tucked really tight,” she says.

“Benji had a onesie on, and that was it. We always put them to bed on their backs, but he had just started rolling and always managed to kick himself back onto his back.”

“This time, he pushed himself over and stopped. He made no noise, it was silent. As a parent, how can you do everything right, and then these things can still happen?”

RELATED: News SIDS research shines light on contributing factors

In the weeks prior, Benji and Freya were both suffering from congestion and coughs.

“I told the doctor, ‘This is pretty bad’,” Allanah remembers.

“And he put it down to bronchiolitis, and was told to give them Panadol, steam and rest. His cough did go away before he died, but I still do wonder if he was unwell.”

With no illness detected in his little body when he passed away, Benji’s cause of death was deemed to be SIDS.

Allanah is now preparing to relocate her family back to the Sunshine Coast, as the heartache of making the same journey she did that night has become too much to bear every single day of her working week.

The fear of losing seven-month-old Freya in the same way has led to other changes, too.

Instead of going to daycare, where Freya often picked up illnesses, the toddler is now cared for at Allanah’s parents’ home, where she works.

At night, Freya’s new cot is now beside Tauu and Allanah’s bed.

“I wake up to any noise she makes,” she says.

“You just never know when something could happen. It breaks my heart that she’ll never get the chance to play with her twin brother.”

The most recent SIDS data in 2019 showed 112 babies died of SIDS and fatal sleeping accidents that year. Today’s Red Nose Day aims to raise $800,000 in funding research and practical support services, such as the Red Nose Safe Sleep Advice Line (1300998 698). Funds also go towards Red Nose’s 24/7 counselling and support services for grief-stricken families who lose a baby.

If you or someone you love needs support after losing a child, contact the Red Nose Miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death support 24/7 National Support Line on1300072 637.