PLEASE , EVEN IF YOU DON'T CONTRIBUTE, SHARE OUR STORY ON ANY SOCIAL MEDIA, IF NOTHING ELSE IT RAISES AWARENESS AND HELPS OUR POSSIBILITIES TOO!!

I am not here to ask anyone for money they cannot afford to give, I realize times are hard and I am only asking you to donate if it's money you can afford to spare.
Sorry if I sadden you with my story, lately I've been spreading sadness everywhere I go, and never in my life have I expected to be making a fundraiser.

After 11 years of being together, me and my wife decided it was time for us to start a family. We have been preparing for it, both financially and emotionally.
We are both 29 years old, and the timing seemed right as I got started on a new job that allowed me to be home sooner, and also had a better salary.

About 2 months into our pregnancy Covid-19 hit, and that's when we also found out that we would be having twins!! Identical Twins! Our excitement was through the roof, as neither of us even have twins in our family, so the double blessing was extra special.

My wife had a tough pregnancy in the beginning, it got better in the middle, then horrible at the end. When we were 34,5 weeks along, the doctor informed us that her blood results were bad, and we had to proceed on emergency C-Section the next day because we were at risk of losing all 3 of them.

On the 21.09.2020, my wife gave birth to 2 beautiful , yet premature boys. Alexandros, and Savvas.
Alexandros weighted 2,2kg (4.85 lbs) and Savvas just 1,4kg (3.08 lbs).

As soon as they were born my angels were rushed to our capital's intensive care unit with an ambulance, 2 hours away. My wife stayed in the surgery room for another 1,5 hours and I was standing outside mortified as I didn't know what was going on and all they informed me was that she wouldn't stop bleeding.
When she finally came out she was blue,and shaking. Up until that point it was the scariest moment in my life. I later went and saw my babies, and my wife stayed in the clinic for another 4 days ,and had to wait for a week's time in order to be able to make the trip to the capital without risking her surgery wound opening.
Meanwhile our kids were being looked after by very capable hands, and every day they seemed better than the previous one.

They had their bumps, of course, because that what happens with premature babies -a little vomiting, sometimes their belly swell, they had bleeding tendencies, got on and off feeding, but as the doctors explained, this was very normal, for underweight premature babies.

I was visiting them daily, and after the first week (and with her doctors ok), my wife did too.

On the 04.10.2020, it was a weird visit. Savvas , our smaller baby was a little bit.... off.

Every time he was energetic and moving, even the first days that he was on oxygen support. But not this time.
When we asked the doctor, she told us that Savvas GREATLY concerns her, and she will have a cardiologists and a neurologist take a look at him first thing in the morning. Both of these doctors said that the baby's heart, brain and lungs were ok.. And me and my wife were thinking/hoping that the first doctor made a mistake.

05.10.20 we get another call that from 60 kids they had there , Savvas was the most severe one, and the problem was they had no idea what the reason was as his clinical image didn't agree with his lab results!!
Alexandros on the other hand was ok, and they were increasing his feeding amount daily, even hinted at us that he would be out soon , since he was stable and got a little heavier, but then he started vomiting too , so he had to stay a little bit longer, as they said.
Keep in mind that Covid-19 did everything so much more difficult as we had to make an appointment and could only see our kids once a day , for half an hour only..

07.10.20 my wife got a call that shocked her. The doctor asking her if she wanted to baptize our baby, in case the worst happened. I was still working back then, so I left work, took my wife and rushed there, even though we didn't have an appointment for a couple more hours.

WE WERE SHOCKED TO OUR CORE. Savvas, our little angel, was swollen like a balloon, and on oxygen support. I saw my baby, double checked the name label in the front of his incubator, and saw him again. He honestly looked like a completely different baby, and both me and my wife were in a state of total shock!!

That day both me and my wife, heard a word for the first time.

GALACTOSEMIA.
https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/2424/galactosemia

An incredibly rare mutation, that depending on the type/phase it is, can be as rare as 1 in 30.000 , to 1 in 100.000 babies!!
And apparently in our UNBELIEVABLE BAD LUCK, both me and my wife not only carry the weak/residual gene for it, but both of us gave it too!! (Which is a 25% chance , on top of the already impossible chances)

That was a theory and the possible diagnosis back then. But all the results checked out!

The milk (both formula and breast milk) our babies have been getting all this time was "POISONING" them, and putting a huge strain on their liver and kidneys, which are the body's "filters".

We know now that on the 07.10.20, the most possible scenario is that Savva's Liver and Kidneys both stopped working.. And every day we were visiting was HELL, as everyone was telling us "if it's not today, it's tomorrow".
The other incredibly unlucky thing was his bleeding tendencies, because he couldn't even have surgery, as he would not survive it. Hickman and peritoneal catheter were also not possible. Everything against my little angel.

Day after day of living hell, I contacted doctors from all over the world, (London, Australia, S. Africa) , spoke with intensivists, and people who have Galactosemia.. But the problem wasn't the Galactosemia now, it was the multiple organ failures.

You see, Galactosemia itself is not deadly.. If diagnosed and treated properly with special amino formula that is...

THIS IS WHAT IS KILLING US!! THAT THIS WAS SO PREVENTABLE!! THERE IS EVEN A TEST YOU CAN DO EVEN AT THE PREGNANCY STAGE, BUT IN OUR COUNTRY IT'S SO RARE (ONLY 12 CASES SO FAR!) , THAT NOT ONLY IS IT NOT MANDATORY, THEY DON'T EVEN MENTION IT TO YOU!!

MY LITTLE ANGEL,MY LITTLE FIGHTER... HE FOUGHT TO STAY ALIVE, WITHOUT OPERATING LIVER AND KIDNEYS.. FOR DAYS!!!
I AM SO PROUD OF THAT BOY. HE GOT THE NICKNAME
"ΜΑΧΗΤΗΣ"
WHICH IN GREEK MEANS FIGHTER.. 10 WHOLE DAYS.. HE WAS FIGHTING... MOST ADULTS WOULDN'T SURVIVE THAT LONG!! IMAGINE, A PREMATURE BABY!! NOT EVEN 1,5KG.. AND 10 DAYS HE HANGED ON, NEVER GIVING UP.

10 days of all of our family praying, and hoping, for ANY sign that something will change.. That we will see even a drop of urine! Or that the bleeding tendencies will go away so he can get surgery.. Nothing.

On the morning of 17.10.2020... My little fighter lost the battle.
And on Sunday the 18.10.20... We buried him... I had to carry my baby's casket.. While I still had my other baby fighting..
NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I EVEN THOUGHT OF EVER LIVING THIS, AND IF YOU THINK THERE IS ANYTHING MORE UNFAIR THAN A PARENT BURYING THEIR CHILD, I GUARANTEE YOU THERE'S NOT!! I was standing in front of his little tomb wholeheartedly wanting to switch places. And if you still gave me the option I would still do it.

MY LITTLE ANGEL SACRIFICED HIMSELF SO HE CAN SAVE HIS BROTHER, because if it wasn't for Savvas, they would have never ever checked Alexandros, as he was much more stable, and had a good clinical image. If it wasn't for his brave identical twin, he would also perish as he was ready for checkout on the 08.10.20, but when Savvas took a turn for the worst they immediately cut the feeding (POISON) from him, and started only giving him fluids.

We would have lost both of them.

As the facts are now, Alexandros is still in a serious condition, but because he is stable, we are able to transfer him to a Country that can actually Diagnose and treat him properly.
ISRAEL.
It's the way to give my little angel the best fighting chance.
Both me and my wife will be going.
The flight is in a few days . Here's the problem.
Both me and my wife's financials took an incredible hit.
We had to return things and beg (especially everything that we got 2 of, because we were preparing for twins), and both of us are out of a job now, because not only we will be leaving for another country soon, we don't even know when we will be returning.

Our country's economic situation is horrible. 800 euro is the average monthly salary, and in Israel we'll need more that 5x that just to stay in the hospital's hotel (for a month) !

If I didn't have all the costs that proceeded this, I might have been able to dig into my savings for a few months, but as it is right now.. I'm honestly thinking of going and begging in the streets.

Please help us. I don't want money to be the reason we lose another baby. I don't even want to be making that thought.
Whatever money remains after our son is back home and safe, we'll be using to raise awareness for this horrible and evil disease.
I just don't want anyone suffering and going through what me and my wife went through, just because they didn't know -like we didn't.

Thanks to everyone who actually read this,
even if you don't donate, please pray for us.

Sincerely,
Proud father of two fighters.