(Author: Libyan Gazette Editorial Staff)
One of the twins rescued earlier this week. Photo by MSF
Among the refugees rescued this week in the Mediterranean was a pair of premature twin boys, who began receiving treatment at a hospital in Palermo on Wednesday.
Antonia Zemp, a medical coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said the mother of the babies boarded the boat with the twins when they were only 5 days old. The mother, like many refugees, was desperate to reach Europe in hopes of finding a better life there.
The twins, who were rescued by Non-Government Organization Proactivia Open Arms (POA), were found bundled in towels and only one of the babies had on a white bonnet to cover his head.
POA then transferred them to a Doctors Without Border’s boat which took them to Lampedusa. After arriving to Lampedusa, the twins were taken to the hospital in Palermo, Sicily by helicopter.
The twins were born one month early, however, only one of the twins was vomiting, had hypothermia and was not responding to the medical care he was receiving, said Zemp.
“After a first triage, our medical team decided to request an evacuation due to the fact that his health was so fragile that he would not have survived the long journey to Italy in our boat,” said Zemp.
Both babies are in intensive care according to Doctors Without Borders, and their mother, 26 year old Tesfamamrim Merhawit, is also being treated at Palermo hospital.