Irish GAA star opens up on heartbreaking loss of twin boys as he admits it 'changed us forever'
Former Kerry star Tommy Walsh has shared the devastating experience of losing his twin sons last year, revealing it has permanently transformed both himself and his wife Dawn.The All Ireland champion lost twin boys Alex and Sam shortly after their premature birth at just 23-and-a-half weeks, describing it as the most challenging time of their lives.The pair have a two year old daughter Abbey, and discussing Dawn's pregnancy with their twin boys, Tommy acknowledged it had been a considerably more challenging journey. "We were expecting twins last year, twin boys. All was going well. When you are carrying two, it's a bit different to carrying one", he told the BBC's GAA Social."About the 23-week mark, there was a bit of a complication and my wife was brought into hospital and they were born prematurely. So they were just 23-and-a-half weeks when they were born, Alex and Sam. Obviously very premature. They made it clear to us, in no uncertain terms, that there was a long battle ahead of them."He added: "We were getting ourselves ready for that. They were in intensive care for a couple of days and they fought hard but they didn't make it unfortunately. They died within about 24 hours of each other. So, a tough couple of months."Tommy characterized the subsequent months as the most difficult period of the couple's lives, but praised their daughter Abbey for providing them with the strength to continue each day, while acknowledging the anguish of departing the hospital without your children is something that has fundamentally altered them, reports RSVP Live.Walsh describes impact on family"Obviously hard on me and my family but it's harder on the woman," he said. "She carried them, delivered them and goes through all the mental and physical challenges that a woman goes through when they are giving birth and then you are leaving hospital without them.""I'm as okay as you could be. You just try and get on with things. Life goes on. We have our daughter at home and we both have jobs we had to get stuck back into."He also disclosed that the overwhelming backing they had received from loved ones and the wider community had proven to be a tremendous source of strength for the couple during their most difficult moments."The amount of support we got from other people - people that you never would have known went through something similar. People were great, and still are. At the time you're saying, 'Why did this happen to us? It's unfair.'"For all the latest news straight to your inbox, sign up for our FREE newsletters here."Then you hear about other people's stories and you realize these things just happen. It's nobody's fault, it happens and it happened to us."He went on to say that hearing others' experiences had given the couple a renewed sense of optimism, explaining, "Obviously you don't know what's going on behind the scenes with people but, from the outside, they appear to be able to go about their day-to-day lives," he said. "That kind of gave us a bit of solace - there might be a bit of normality ahead."It will always be there. Things will never be the same compared to if they were with us. You just have to get on with it, don't you?" He also honored the remarkable resilience of his wife Dawn, and shared that the silver lining they had discovered was how it had deepened their bond."There's hard times obviously. I suppose you are trying to get through something quite traumatic together. It does strengthen your relationship, yeah. That's something we said to ourselves - if there is one thing that can come out of it."For the latest local news and features on Irish America, visit our homepage here.
