Growing up, I was always envious of friends who had a twin.
It’s like they had a built-in best friend for life! And when identical twins Hailey and Jenna were born, they had an unbreakable bond as well. The blonde, blue-eyed twins did everything together since they were very little, said their parents Peggy and Jeff Kehoe. The girls were growing up happily and developing normally, until one day in February 2013, when they were 12 years old. Everything was about to change for the worse, in the blink of an eye…
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Hailey was in deep trouble. When Peggy and Jeff found her, she was laying flat on the bathroom floor, unable to move. She was slurring her words and she couldn’t open her eyes. The most alarming part was that her head was in extreme pain. Fearing the worst, they rushed her to a hospital.
The doctors found that Hailey had suffered a brain hemorrhage.
The situation seemed hopeless. Doctors said there was nothing they could do. A preacher even showed up to console the family. They knew deep down that there really was a chance their daughter and sister wouldn’t survive, but they were not willing to accept it.
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With the help of Life Lion, a critical care transport crew, Hailey was transferred to Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital. Her prognosis did not look good — she couldn’t breather on her own and she was in a coma.
Peggy and Jeff had to make quick decisions. They signed consent forms right away to get Hailey emergency surgery in order to relieve the pressure in her brain.
Through all of this, Jenna was right by Hailey’s side.
“You have to pull through this, Hailey,” said Jenna. “I can’t live without my twin.”
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Thankfully, within a few days, Hailey did wake up. The family learned that Hailey was born with a condition called brain arteriovenous malformation (AVM), which is when blood vessels connecting arteries and veins in your brain form a tangle. She then underwent surgery to fix AWM so that she would be safe from it for the rest of her life.
Hailey is a true miracle child. She knows it, the family knows it, and her twin Jenna is forever grateful that she made it through. Hailey loves art and hopes to be an art teacher one day. Watch the video below to learn more about this amazing miracle: