A Grand le Pierre family feels helpless after the loss of one of their own—the mother of twins who were born on April 1.
Her partner, Tyler Pardy, was laid off from work in Alberta and arrived home to face self-isolation just in time for the early arrival of his two baby boys—TJ and Kobe.
Being born at 29 weeks, the twins were placed in the NIC Unit at the Janeway, 250 kilometres away from their home.
Their mother, Siobbhan Sheppard, had travelled home to rest and wait to be able to hold her newborns, but she passed away on Thursday after what were believed to be complications from childbirth.
Family member Laura-Lee Labour says the early childbirth, the distance, and the passing were already hard enough. The fact that the community cannot physically come together to support Tyler and the babies has made everyone feel helpless.
She says it breaks her heart that she cannot give her family a hug. Labour says she needed to go see him, just to ease her mind.
IBEW Local 1620, the union of which Pardy is a member, has set up a GoFundMe page to support him during his time of mourning, and becoming a father.
Union business manager Don Murphy says the couple was unable to prepare for the babies as they came along 11 weeks early.
Murphy stated, “To say that ‘we are in this together’ is an understatement.”