Star footballer Gary Rohan’s baby daughter has tragically died shortly after birth.
Rohan’s wife Amie gave birth to Bella Rea and Willow Nevaeh on Thursday.
The Sydney Swans player posted a heartbreaking photo to Instagram announcing the twins’ birth.
‘Our beautiful baby girls have arrived. The most perfect little souls we have ever laid eyes on, we feel so truly blessed to be your parents,’ he wrote.
‘Amie, Bella and I soaked up every second we had with Willow, making as many lasting memories as we could all together.’
Rohan’s wife Amie gave birth to Bella Rea and Willow Nevaeh on Thursday
The Sydney Swans player posted a heartbreaking photo to Instagram announcing the twins’ birth
Willow was diagnosed with anencephaly, a condition where a major portion of the brain, skull and scalp is absent. It occurs during embryonic development.
‘It’s those little moments we know we will never get back, and we will forever cherish the time we spent as our little family of four, before our darling Willow grew her little angel wings,’ Rohan said.
Rohan said Amie and Bella were both doing well after the birth.
‘Yesterday was one of the hardest days Amie and I have ever had to deal with. It was a day full of many mixed emotions.’
Sydney Swan Gary Rohan and his wife Amie (pictured) revealed on Friday that one of their identical twins would be born underdeveloped and die shortly after birth
Rohan said Amie and Bella were both doing well after the birth
‘Words truly can’t express how grateful we are… Our little angel Willow, oh how much you taught us in your precious five hours here. A life so brief, a child so small, you had the power to touch us all.’
The star forward revealed the couple’s exciting but tragic news in November, announcing via Instagram that one of their two children would die shortly after birth.
‘One of our beautiful bubs has been diagnosed with anencephaly,’ he wrote alongside a picture of Amie holding her stomach.
‘Anencephaly is a condition where part of the brain, skull and scalp never develops. Our brain is very sensitive, so to live our brain must have cushion and protection.
‘Babies born with anencephaly are not compatible with life.’
The couple are refusing to let the heartbreaking news ruin their happy journey to parenthood.
‘We come to the decision that either way, BOTH our babies are beautiful, precious human beings, with the only thing being that sadly ones life is destined to be cut short,’ Gary continued.
‘Due May 18’ was written in graphics across the touching photo, which was also shared to Amie’s personal account with a separate message for her followers.
‘Bumpin’ ❤️❤️ #14weeks #identicaltwins #anencephaly (I’ve included a link in my bio that will hopefully answer any questions anyone has about anencephaly, I know it answered most of mine so I’m sure it will help others) xx,’ she wrote.
Neither future parents seemed to have let the devastating news plague their pregnancy, with them encouraging families with similar experiences to get in touch.
‘We would love for anyone who has been affected by anencephaly themselves or know of others affected by anencephaly to please contact us,’ Gary wrote.
‘Don’t be afraid to talk to us about it. That’s what we want, we want people to ask questions, we want to talk about it with others. We still need questions answered as much as everyone else.’
‘And at the end of the day, we will always be parents to twins, our journey has just been written a little differently to others.’
The couple are refusing to let the heartbreaking news ruin their happy journey to parenthood, pledging to love both ‘precious human beings’ equally
Hundreds flooded the comment box with kind messages of support, well wishes and stories of how they came to terms with anencephaly in their own babies.
‘Gary & Amie I can truly feel your pain our son Harrison was diagnosed with this in 2005 i thought I would never recover. You are very brave & I believe doing the right thing by talking about this it helped me immensely to talk,’ one follower wrote.
Several others praised the couple for being brave in openly sharing their story, with one saying it’s the best thing they could do given their situation.
‘I will tell you this right now – NO day or experience is worse than the diagnosis day and so many others say exactly the same thing. We were totally open with everyone from the start and it was the best thing we did.’