Twins born early, home destroyed in tornado, couple grateful for kindness of community

Shannon Hancock and Marty Gish have had their lives turned upside down in more ways than one. In the past six months, their family has doubled as they welcomed twins on Oct. 20. They also lost everything in the Dec. 10 tornado. Their Bremen home was destroyed that day, but they had been mostly living in Louisville to be close to the babies, born weeks before their due-date and still living in the hospital at the time of the storm.

The two met in Nashville, where Hancock is from and Gish was living at the time. They moved to Bremen eight years ago to be closer to Gish’s parents, and began to think about raising a family. Hancock said she really loved the quiet pace of life here, after growing up near downtown Nashville.

“I would tell all my friends and family we were definitely going to move back,” Hancock said, “and then, I just ended up falling in love with Muhlenberg County.”

Gish and Hancock had been trying to conceive for a few years. The pregnancy was tough, with a lot of symptoms, leading to jokes between the couple about the possibility of twins. “I was sick for about four months, all day morning sickness, but they said with twins, you’re a lot more sick, a lot more tired, everything is just amplified,” Hancock said.

There is also a risk of twins being born prematurely, and that was the case for Sailor and Adeline. They were born at 24 weeks, about 15 weeks before their due date.

Hancock went into labor only 23 weeks into her pregnancy. They headed to the hospital in Owensboro where she was given medication to stop the contractions. Next came a helicopter ride to Norton Hospital in Louisville where the babies would be born a week later.

As the young couple waited at the hospital and prayed the babies wouldn’t be born too soon, they were faced with some tough conversations and preparing for the worst. While healthcare staff gave them the option of comfort care – keeping the babies comfortable while offering palliative care - the new parents decided they wanted to allow for medical interventions to keep the babies alive.

Gish and Hancock have their hands full, with the twins now at home in a rental house in Central City (Leader-News photo/Stacie Barton)

Babies born before 24 weeks have less than 50 percent chance of survival and doctors repeatedly warned Gish and Hancock there was a chance their babies would not live if born too soon. Often the health issues result in such a bleak quality of life, and such a short life, comfort care is a better option.

“We were having these horrible, dark conversations every time they came in,” Gish said. “By the end of the week we both decided we would have to give them a chance.”

The road back home to Muhlenberg County has been full of obstacles for the young family. Both babies faced an uphill battle, with blood transfusions, heart issues and brain bleeds. The babies were on ventilators to help them breathe, and mom and dad could only look on.

“We could change their diapers, and take their temperatures, but that was about it,” Hancock said. The babies were two months old before their parents would get to hold them.

“The first time that we got to hold them was actually Christmas day,” Gish said. They had tried to hold Adeline before, but she could not tolerate it, her oxygen and heart rate dropped after just a minute.

Both babies eventually transitioned from the neonatal intensive care unit to living nearby the hospital at the Ronald McDonald House. Adeline was released from the hospital on Feb. 17, and stayed with Hancock at the Ronald McDonald House while Sailor remained in the hospital. Sailor would join his sister on March 21 there. The family stayed there to be close as they made multiple doctor’s appointments daily.

Gish and Hancock were occupied with their newborns when disaster struck at home. Their house on Kentucky Highway 81 was struck by the Dec. 10 tornado. The storm took off the roof and tore away the southern wall, shattering windows throughout their home. After that night, there was no home to bring the babies back to.

Gish said it’s been difficult, caring for twins and trying to pick up the pieces of their lives at the same time. But to him, the stuff they lost is just that. “I had a lifetime of stuff, and do I miss having it? Yeah, but you just pick up and keep going, because that’s what you have to do.”

Gish and Hancock plan on moving back to Bremen, rebuilding on the land near family there. In the meantime, they have a place to live in Central City. Carla Brewer had heard about their story and offered them a home she had for rent. It was fully furnished, a blessing for Gish and Hancock, who lost most of their belongings to the tornado.

While they work on putting the pieces back together, the babies are home with them now. They came home to Muhlenberg County on March 29. Their corrective age is about eight weeks, even though they’ve been in this world much longer. They continue to grow and thrive and show little signs of permanent effects from their early delivery.

Gish and Hancock have been amazed by the outpouring of help they have received from the community as they feel their way through the combination of the trauma of premature birth of the twins and the devastation of the Dec. 10 tornado.

“You never assume you’re gonna be this person, who is in a situation where people feel such pity for you, I have to remind myself that this about these two,” Gish said, gesturing at Sailor and Adeline. “Otherwise we’re just two people who lost their home in a tornado. There are dozens of us in the county and thousands of us across the country every year.”

Hancock said they found it hard to accept the help being offered at first. “We are big believers in making your own way,” she said. “But people want to help because of these babies.”