When Charlie and Sam Tilbury were born with serious health problems, parents Bernadette and Matthew never imagined them starting school in Point Cook five years later.
Charlie and Sam were born two months early, with a central nervous system problem that meant they continually stopped breathing.
Even after time in a neonatal intensive care unit then a special neonatal care unit, the twins still had problems.
“For the first 15 months they spent more time in hospital than at home, and when they were at home they had to be on a breathing monitor,” Mrs Tilbury says. “It’s hard to believe that they are off to school to join their sister Ella, who is in grade 1 at Lumen Christi [Catholic Primary School].”
The blue-eyed, sandy haired boys are identical, except for a freckle on Charlie’s forehead.
“To me they don’t look alike, but others can’t tell the difference,’’ Mrs Tilbury says.
‘‘Charlie has a freckle on his forehead, so we call him Charlie Brown after the spot.”
Mrs Tilbury says parents of twins face more problems than simply having to buy multiple school uniforms and lunch boxes, such as deciding whether to separate the children.
“Sam and Charlie have been together all their lives, but we have raised them as individuals and decided to put them in separate classes so they can develop their own interests and friendships.”
With many Wyndham pupils returning to school from this week, Cr Peter Gibbons says school speed limits are now in force, with 40km/h zones active between 8am and 9.30am, and 2.30pm and 4pm weekdays.
