The grieving parents of twins who tragically died with their arms wrapped around each other after they fell asleep inside their toybox have issued a grave warning for other parents.
Kellan and Aurora Starr, 4, passed away after they climbed into their airtight toybox and the lid closed on them.
Their heartbroken mother, Sadie Myers, has taken to Facebook to warn other parents about toy chests so they won’t experience such kind of devastation.
In a lengthy message, she wrote: “Last Friday night while I was at work, Don put the boys and the twins to bed, then soon after went to bed himself… When I got home from work a couple hours later I looked in at all the kids like usual to make sure they were sleeping, then ate my dinner and went to sleep…”
The mom said that the twins woke up and played in their bedroom, explaining that they did that a lot.
“It’s just a twin thing I guess, and then they usually fall asleep in some weird place in their room with toys left everywhere so mom and dad can see proof of their late night planning when we get up in the morning.”
Describing the night before the twins were found lifeless in their toy chest, she continued: “Friday night the weird place they decided to snuggle up and go back to sleep was in their cedar toy chest that we use to store all their stuffed animals.
“They pulled out all but a couple stuffed animals, I guess they left some to keep it comfy in there, then they laid inside head to toe with one arm each over their twin and I’m assuming said ‘good night kell kell’ and ‘night night sissy’…”
But while they were sleeping, the lid of the chest shut on them. “One of them must have moved or kicked during a dream.”
“Something I did not know and I’m sure many others don’t know is that most wooden toy chests once closed are AIR TIGHT and also sound proof,” Myers wrote.
“So as they slept, all snuggled up together, they slowly ran out of oxygen within a couple of hours and passed away.
“They never even knew it was happening. There was no sudden gasp for air, it was a very slow transition from sleep to passing on….”
The mother said that when she, her husband and their two older sons woke up, they couldn’t find the twins in their bedroom.
One of their sons then opened the toy chest and found the twins ‘sleeping’ but the parents immediately realized that something was wrong. It was already “too late” to save Kellan and Aurora.
The twins tragically died with their arms wrapped around each other.
“I hope knowing this helps in some way, and I hope if you have a toy box like this that you destroy it immediately!!!” she added.
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