Warning: This story covers stillbirths and some people may find the details distressing
One date is etched into Richard Ganjavi’s memory: 6 August 2024.
It was the day for the routine 34-week scan for the twins he was expecting with his wife, Naomi.
“The room went quiet. [The woman doing the scan] said the words that shattered everything: “I’m so sorry, there isn’t a heartbeat.”
Naomi and Richard were rushed from Stratford Hospital to Warwick Hospital but Bella was stillborn.
“We just fell to pieces,” Richard said.
In the time since then, Bella’s twin sister, Penny, who was born healthily, has just celebrated her second birthday.
In those two years, Richard said he processed his grief by writing a children’s book, Whispers of a Purple Butterfly, inspired by his story.
The primary school teacher started writing within weeks of the loss of Bella.
“We had two cots upstairs, two seats in the car, a double pram. Two years on we could be walking down the street, and see someone with twins and every time it just gets you,” he admitted.
“In a way you never get over it.”
