13 May 2020

Paul’s wife Isabel was ‘on top of the world’ after welcoming Mattias, Lukas and Sarah into the world at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester on March 2.

But tragically, the 34-year-old died just a few days later from Haemopericadium, where blood leaks into the heart from a tear in the artery.

The family health visitor got in touch to see if we could help and when we shared what had happened to Paul’s family with our supporters, we were flooded with offers from people wanting to help.

It eventually led to the formation of our crisis service, once known as Helping Hands, and now rebranded as the more recognisable Family Crisis Support.

We set up a fundraising page in Paul’s name and got in touch with the Norland Agency to see if they could offer any voluntary help via their qualified childcare support practitioners.

We didn’t know what to expect, but they put a call out and were inundated with offers of support. In just a matter of days a team came to help Paul.

He says the help he received was invaluable.

It soon became apparent to me that it would be impossible for one person to look after triplets singlehandedly 24/7, so the help was the difference between having a workable way forward or slowly grinding myself into the ground.

Not only did the support from the Norlanders help him get through a difficult time of grief just by being there, but offered Paul lots of tips that accelerated the process of settling the babies into their new environment and helping them to get back to sleep, and stay asleep, between feeds.

“Family Crisis Support was a true lifeline for me, and I’m sure has been for other families. When I look back at that time eight years ago, without the support of Twins Trust, I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten through.”

Mattias, Lukas and Sarah are now eight years old and thriving at school in Hampshire.

“There have been tough times, and there will be more to come, I’m sure,” said Paul, “but things are going well. I love my job as an LSA – it’s a little bit different to what I used to do before in Ordnance Survey, but it means I can be around more for the children.

“And the three of them are just great – lots of fun! We’re doing well.”