A pair of Barrie twin girls have had to spend most of their life in hospital, but a pair of nurses have helped make their most recent weeks feel a bit like summer camp.
Mylayna and Naya Soares, 10, were born prematurely at just 30 weeks and have faced serious medical challenges.
Milayna has spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, while Naya has faced even more complex challenges, including heart conditions, scoliosis and a limb difference.
The pair have been most recently rehabilitating at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto. But luckily for them, Joshua Legaspi and Michael Feir, who have become known as the ‘nurse twins,’ have been brightening their stay.
Legaspi and Feir started the same day, work most of their shifts together, and regularly dress up as ‘twins’ themselves.
“Knowing that the kids here are giving their 110 per cent it just feels right to match that with your own 110 per cent energy,” said Feir.
On top of taking care of the Soares girls, the two nurses have entertained them with antics that have included cartwheels or tag games.
“She wants me to do 500 (cartwheels),” joked Legaspi.
Holland Bloorview never previously had twin sisters as inpatients recovering, learning to walk, and sharing a room all at the same time.
But the smiles the ‘nurse twins’ have put on their faces have helped the Soares girls with their recovery.
Milayna is learning how to walk again after recovering from surgery to lengthen muscles and tendons.
Naya is learning to walk with a new prosthetic foot, and for the first time in her life, she is spending time out of her wheelchair.
“Josh and Michael will take them for a walk sometimes and kind of encourages them to use their new equipment and want to learn to walk,” said Stephanie Soares, their mother. “That has assisted even me being able to get them wanting to do therapy beyond just the one hour a day that they have.”
The Soares twins will be discharged this week but they describe their stay at Holland Bloorview as ‘summer camp,’ a summer they will always remember.
With files from CTV’s Carol Charles.
