Community Corner
N.J. Parents 'Stuck' In Europe After Premature Birth of Twins; One Baby Dies
Kim and Fred Pratt, and their daughter, are trapped in an intensive care unit with all their family and friends back in the United States.
A New Jersey couple’s trip to Portugal was supposed to be the perfect getaway just before their twins’ births.
Instead, the babies were prematurely born, and one of them died while the family continues to be “stuck” in the country.
Find out what's happening in Brickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Kim Spratt of Jackson gave birth when she was 24 weeks pregnant to twins who weighed barely over 1 pound each. Now Kim and her husband, Fred, are trapped in an intensive care unit with all their family and friends back in the United States, according to a GoFundMe page set up for the family.
Spratt gave birth to her son, Hudson Charles Spratt, and his twin sister, Hayden Grace Spratt, on Mother’s Day. Hudson died on May 25, and both parents have yet to hold their surviving daughter, according to The Asbury Park Press and New York Daily News.
Find out what's happening in Brickfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The infant has been kept in a Lisbon hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit while tied to tubes and too unstable to touch, according to the reports.
“It’s been unfathomable,” new mother Kim Spratt told the Asbury Park Press.
Family and friends have been there, in spirit, using GoFundMe to provide support. As of Friday afternoon, the page raised more than $37,000.
The page noted that the couple are surrounded by people who don’t speak the same language, and they’re ”worried about the safety” of their child.
“We’re trapped here indefinitely,” Spratt said, according to the Daily News.
“The stress and now the financial burden of having to find a place to live for an indefinite amount of time in a foreign country with brand new twins is heavily weighing on them,” according to the GoFundMe page.
The page asks people to consider giving at least $5, which could help them make a phone call back home to their parents, doctors or help them find a place to live.
“Mom owns a business back home that doesn’t run without her so in addition to the unexpected expenses and living situation, her business won’t be making any money and the situation will be detrimental to it. ”
The Spratt’s GoFundMe page can be found here.
Photo: Kim and Fred Spratt, from GoFundMe
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
