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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nDoctors have told Jesy Nelson that her twin babies will probably \u201cnever be able to walk\u201d.<\/p>\n
The former Little Mix singer, 34, gave birth to twin daughters Ocean Jade Nelson-Foster and Story Monroe-Nelson-Foster in May following complications with her pregnancy. Announcing the birth, she shared photos of the twins together with their father, British rapper Zion Foster. <\/p>\n
In an emotional video posted on Sunday (4 January), Nelson told fans that her babies have since been diagnosed with a muscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) after her mother had noticed their legs \u201cweren\u2019t moving as much as they should be\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe girls have now been diagnosed with a severe muscle disease called SMA type one. For those of you who don\u2019t know what SMA type one is, it is the most severe muscular disease that a baby can get,\u201d said the singer. <\/p>\n
Explaining the disease, she said: \u201cIt does affect every muscle in the body, down to legs, arms, breathing, swallowing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd essentially, what it does is, over time, it kills the muscle to the body, and if it’s not treated in time, your baby\u2019s life expectancy will not make it past the age of two.\u201d <\/p>\n
Recalling her daughters\u2019 assessment at Great Ormond Street hospital in London, Nelson said: \u201cWe were told that they will probably never be able to walk and never regain their neck strength, so they will be disabled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best thing we can do right now is to get treatment and then just hope for the best. Thankfully the girls have had their treatment, which I\u2019m so grateful for because if they don\u2019t have it, they will die.\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Jesy Nelson shared a photo of her cradling her newborn daughters (Instagram\/Jesy Nelson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nSpeaking about how their lives have changed since receiving the diagnosis, Nelson recalled \u201cendless hospital visits\u201d and having to learn how to put her babies on \u201cbreathing machines\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason I wanted to make this video was because the last three months have honestly been the most heartbreaking time of my life. I literally feel like my whole life has done a 360,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
\u201cI almost feel like I\u2019m grieving the life I thought I was going to have with my children and I know I have to be grateful because at the end of the day, they\u2019re still here and that\u2019s the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>(Jesy Nelson)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nNelson said she truly believes her daughters would \u201cdefy the odds\u201d and \u201cgo on to do things that have never been done\u201d. <\/p>\n
On why she decided make the diagnosis public, Nelson said she wanted to raise awareness so that other parents could identify the condition as early as possible to make treatment more effective. <\/p>\n
As stated by the NHS, symptoms include floppiness in the arms and legs, as well as movement problems. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe main thing I want to get across is that the majority of this can be prevented if it is detected from birth and all it takes is a heel prick,\u201d she said, referring to the newborn blood spot test. <\/p>\n
As stated by the NHS, SMA is a rare genetic condition that can cause muscle weakness, including problems with breathing or swallowing, weak arms and legs, tremors, and bone and joint problems. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Doctors have told Jesy Nelson that her twin babies will probably \u201cnever be able to walk\u201d. The former Little Mix singer, 34, gave birth to twin daughters Ocean Jade Nelson-Foster and Story Monroe-Nelson-Foster in May following complications with her pregnancy. Announcing the birth, she shared photos of the twins together with their father, British rapper Zion Foster. In an emotional video posted on Sunday (4 January), Nelson told fans that her babies have since been diagnosed with a muscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) after her mother had noticed their legs \u201cweren\u2019t moving as much as they should be\u201d. \u201cThe girls have now been diagnosed with a severe muscle disease called SMA type one. For those of you who don\u2019t know what SMA type one is, it is the most severe muscular disease that a baby can get,\u201d said the singer. Explaining the disease, she said: \u201cIt does affect every muscle in the body, down to legs, arms, breathing, swallowing. \u201cAnd essentially, what it does is, over time, it kills the muscle to th…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10337"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10337\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10338"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10337"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10337"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10337"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}