Jesy Nelson thanks fans for support
Jesy Nelson has thanked fans and vowed to campaign for improved genetic screening in the wake of her twins' devastating diagnosis.
Jesy Nelson has thanked fans for their love and support after she revealed her daughters have a rare genetic condition.
The former Little Mix singer - who gave birth to her and fiance Zion Foster's twins Ocean Jade and Story Monroe prematurely last May after a difficult pregnancy - revealed on Sunday (04.01.26) that her babies have SMA1 (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), which she described as "the most severe muscular disease", and she is grateful for the "beautiful messages" she has received following the news.
She said in a new Instagram video: "Hey guys I just wanted to come on here to basically say thank you genuinely so much from the bottom of my heart for the outpour of support and beautiful messages for me and other families dealing with this horrible diagnosis.
"I am genuinely so overwhelmed from the level of support and I just want to say thank you for sharing, learning about it, took the time to watch it and send their beautiful messages, thank you I appreciate it so much."
The 34-year-old singer has also vowed to campaign for babies to be screened for the condition at birth.
She added: "I also wanted to let you guys know, I am starting a petition to try and get the newborn screening heel prick testing from birth and I just need you to know that I am so determined to make this happen and I am going to fight as much as I can to make this part of the newborn screening.
"It's currently under review so I will keep you updated and also I will be on This Morning tomorrow talking about my baby girls. I love you all so much and I can't thank you enough for the support. We have along way to go but I love you so much."
At the weekend, Jesy told how her daughters will "never walk" and have lost the ability to hold up their heads as a result of the condition.
She said in an emotional video: "The girls have now been diagnosed with a severe muscle disease called SMA type one. For those of you who don't know what SMA type one is, it's a severe muscular disease that a baby can get.
"It's done for Spinal Muscular Atrophy, which can affect, well it does affect every muscle in the body, down to legs, arms, breathing, swallowing.
"And essentially, what it does is, over time, it kills the muscle to the body, and if it's not treated in time, your baby's life expectancy will not make it past the age of two.
"When they assessed the girls at Great Ormond Street, we were told that they will never be able to walk and never regain their neck strength, so they will be disabled."
Jesy added that the babies have started having treatment and claimed that would have died without it.
She said: "And so the best thing we can do right now is to get the treatment, and then just hope for the best. So hopefully the girls have had their treatment, which you're so grateful for.
"Because if they don't have it, they will die."
