Identical twins star in film documenting the first time they faced being separated

When Riley Watkins needed brain surgery for a rare condition, one of his parents’ main concerns was that he would be split from his twin for the first time.

But they needn’t have worried. The Sick Children’s Trust came to their aid to allow the family, including Riley’s identical twin brother Noah to stay as close to him as possible,

Now the twins are stars a new film promoting the work of the Sick Children’s Trust.

Around 2.1 million children are admitted to hospital every year. Often, they find themselves in a city far away from home in order to receive the care they need. The Sick Children’s Trust is the charity that gives families with a seriously ill child in hospital a comfortable place to stay and a friendly ear to listen in one of its 10 ‘Homes from Home’.

Over the last 10 years, the charity has kept more than 33,000 families together.

The Watkins family, from Hull, are one of those families who found themselves at Leeds Children’s Hospital when Riley needed major brain surgery in 2018.

Riley has moyamoya disease which is believed to affect just one in a million people in the UK.

Moyamoya blocks the two main blood vessels that supply blood to the brain and it compensates for the lack of blood supply by developing a network of blood vessels.

Coupled with this, he also has another rare condition called Hypothalamic Hamartoma – a tumour – which affects just one in 200,000 children.

“One of the symptoms of moyamoya are mini-strokes (TIAs). The first one that Riley had was just after his fifth birthday when he was in the bath,” explains dad Chris,

“I took him straight to our local hospital, the Royal Hull Infirmary in Hull, but they said there wasn’t anything neurologically wrong at that stage. Over the next couple of months, Riley continued to have further episodes and the doctors thought he had epilepsy. But my wife, Wendy, and I knew that this wasn’t the case. We knew in our hearts of hearts that this wasn’t the right diagnosis.

“We were right. A scan revealed that Riley had moyamoya disease but our hospital wasn’t equipped to cope with it so we were referred to Leeds General Infirmary for an angiogram. The results were devastating. The entire right side of Riley’s brain was blocked and he needed an operation as soon as possible because the other side of his brain would be blocked within a year. It didn’t take much to work out what the outcome would be for our son if the operation didn’t go ahead. “

During his time in hospital, Wendy and Chris along with his identical twin, Noah, were given a place to stay at Eckersley House run by The Sick Children’s Trust.

“It was an extremely stressful situation before Eckersley House. We were told Riley needed urgent surgery, his condition was described as a ticking time bomb. One of our main concerns was how I’d be able to be with Riley and Wendy, I could be anywhere from an hour to two hours away,” explains Chris.

“We couldn’t afford much of a hotel but on the day Riley went for his surgery, we received a call from The Sick Children’s Trust to say they had a room for us, and Noah could stay too.

“They call Eckersley House a ‘Home from Home’ and that’s what it is. I don’t know what we would’ve done without it. It was a godsend.”

Since leaving the hospital, the family have supported the charity – attending its events, fundraisers and raising awareness – most recently featuring in the charity’s impact film. The film highlights the difference having a place to stay near your sick child can have on the family’s wellbeing.

“It just took all the worry away. We could be together. Having Noah there was a massive benefit to both the boys,” says mum Wendy. “They are the best of friends and are inseparable. Noah was the medicine Riley needed to pick him up.”

Jane Featherstone, Chief Executive of The Sick Children’s Trust, said: “We believe it is so important that the whole family can stay together. When Riley was in hospital, having his brother by his side, laughing, playing together while he recovered made all the difference.

“There is such a high demand for families who need to be close to their child, with over two million children being admitted to hospital every year in critical conditions. That’s why in the last 10 years we have made it our priority to open three more ‘Homes from Home’ to keep more families together.”

On average, it takes a family 97 minutes to travel from home to be by their sick child’s hospital bedside.

Ninety nine per cent of families who have been given a place to stay by The Sick Children’s Trust believe having a ‘Home from Home’ has helped them cope and improved their child’s recovery.

To watch The Sick Children’s Trust’s film featuring the Watkins family: http://bit.ly/sctwatkins

sickchildrenstrust.org