Mementos From Grave Of ‘Miracle Twins’ Who Were Born With One Body And Two Faces Discarded

The parents of the so-called “miracle twins,” who were born with one body but two faces, expressed outrage to reporters after they attended the gravesides of the dead twins, only to find that the area had been cleared of the memorials and mementos there.

When Faith and Hope Howie were born back in May last year, doctors knew that their rare condition, known as disrosopus, meant that their chance of survival was extremely low.

The twins sadly passed away just 19 days after entering the world and were laid to rest at the Pinegrove Memorial Park in Sydney, Australia.

However, when Faith and Hope’s parents, Simon Howie and Renee Young arrived last Thursday to visit the grave, they were shocked to find it bare,

As Howie told reporters, the discovery was devastating.

“We took Renee’s aunts to see the girls for the first time and we found everything had been stripped away. We were devastated and mortified. We’ve had a little shrine set up and we’ve been adding to it since the funeral. It’s heartbreaking to know we’ve set this up and it has been treated like rubbish.”

When they were buried, Faith and Hope had a pink coffin and pink and white balloons were released at their funeral. Following that theme, the family had built up a pink and white themed memorial at the grave for the twins.

But when they arrived on Thursday for a visit, all that was gone apart from one single bunch of flowers.

Howie added, “There was no warning, it was just manhandled and thrown in the rubbish. It was through the entire baby section. We’ve gone down there and maintained it. We make sure either side of the girls is clipped with scissors so (workers) don’t need to go near it,” he said.

The bereaved father spoke about how finding the gravesite in that state made him and his family feel, “We pay the money to have the plot, they should be able to just take little mementos. It’s just not fair on the families. We got to those places to grieve – we’re only one month out from the girls turning one… and it’s been stripped naked. We have to start again.”

For their part, Pinegrove’s communication manager Karl Wolfenden, made a statement about the incident, saying,

“We do understand the emotions of affected families. We have apologised to those we have spoken to and we have invited them to meet so we can find a solution that is agreeable to all. We are inviting other affected families to make contact also. Pinegrove is a fresh flower only and no ornamentation park but despite our rules and regulations we should have shown more respect to these items. We will discuss and seek an agreeable solution with families in the weeks ahead.”

[Image credit: theothersideoffunerals.com]