In October of 2017, Frankielen da Silva Zampoli Padilha was just nine weeks pregnant when she was left brain dead after a stroke. While her brain was dead, her body was still nurturing the unborn twins who were growing in her womb.
Staffers at Nosso Senhora do Rocio kept Frankielen alive for the next 123 days, decorating her room and singing to her to pass the time. They also spent time talking to the twins as their embryos grew inside their mother.
We did an ultrasound on the embryos, thinking they would be failing in the womb but, to our surprise, they were clinging to life,” said her physician, Dr. Dalton Rivabem. “Frankielen’s organs were all intact and working as if she was still with us. We took the decision to keep her alive to save her unborn children, and every day we watched them grow normally.”
After 123 days, Frankielen gave birth to a boy and a girl via C-section, and her life support was turned off afterwards. The twins are now being cared for by their father, Muriel Padilha, and grandmother Angela Silva.
“I’m so proud of my daughter. It’s been hard losing her, but she was a warrior right until the end, protecting her beautiful children and giving them life until the day she finally died,” Angela said.
Muriel misses Frankielen deeply, but he said he knows that she is in a better place now.
“Frankielen has appeared to me on many occasions, especially when I was despairing and crying out for God to bring her back to me,” he said. “One night, she sat on my bed and said, ‘Baby, I can’t come back to you anymore. I must stay. I am in a beautiful place now. You’ve got a big mission still to complete. You have to look after our children, and you have to be strong and move on and live your life.’”