Outpouring of love after tragic loss of twin daughters
<p><strong>WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT</strong></p>
<p>A devastated couple from Jacksonville, Florida, has issued a haunting warning following the tragic demise of their twin four-year-old girls, who tragically lost their lives after an unfortunate incident involving their toy chest.</p>
<p>On the night of September 1, Don Starr, a loving father, bid his son Kellan and daughter Aurora goodnight, blissfully unaware that it would be the last time he would do so.</p>
<p>The following morning, the twins were discovered lifeless inside their wooden toy box by their older brother. The heartbroken sibling had stumbled upon a chilling scene as he found the pair tightly huddled within the confines of the chest, locked in each other's arms.</p>
<p>The older brother, baffled and distressed, recounted that they appeared to be merely "being silly" or "sleeping" within the toy chest.</p>
<p>It was later revealed that Kellan and Aurora had awakened during the night and decided to seek refuge in their toy box, snuggling up for warmth and comfort before drifting back into slumber.</p>
<p>Tragically, the lid of the toy box had inadvertently closed, creating a "soundproof" and "airtight" environment. The twins eventually ran out of oxygen, suffocating in their sleep.</p>
<p>Overwhelmed with grief, their mother, Sadie Myers, took to social media to share her agony and raise awareness about the potential dangers posed by toy boxes.</p>
<p>In a poignant Facebook post, she wrote:</p>
<p>“Not many will know the pain of losing two children at the same time and losing them in a way that makes no sense. But I have to believe that something in this universe chose them specifically, maybe to protect them from some future tragedy, or maybe because their souls were too perfect for this world.</p>
<p>“Last Friday night while I was at work, Don put the boys and the twins to bed, then soon after went to bed himself. When I got home from work a couple hours later I looked in at all the kids like usual to make sure they were sleeping, then ate my dinner and went to sleep.</p>
<p>“At some point early that morning the twins woke each other up and decided they wanted to play in their room rather than sleep. They do this a lot, it’s just a twin thing I guess. They usually fall asleep in some weird place in their room … Friday night the weird place they decided to snuggle up and go back to sleep was in their cedar toy chest, that we use to store all their stuffed animals.”</p>
<p>Unbeknownst to Sadie, the chest's lid had shut, rendering it airtight and soundproof. The twins lay inside, head to toe, with their arms draped over each other. “So as they slept, all snuggled up together, they slowly ran out of oxygen within a couple of hours and passed away. They never even knew it was happening. There was no sudden gasp for air, it was a very slow transition from sleep to passing on.”</p>
<p>The following morning, the family assumed that the twins were still asleep, unaware of the tragedy that had unfolded. It was their older son Axton who made the grim discovery, finding them innocently "sleeping" in the toy box.</p>
<p>As Sadie pleaded with other parents to eliminate any such toy chests from their homes to prevent similar tragedies, she acknowledged the senselessness of the loss, a pain that would never truly subside.</p>
<p>“I hope knowing this helps in some way, and I hope if you have a toy box like this that you destroy it immediately!" she urged. “Please keep me and my family in your hearts and prayers, because this will never get easier for us.”</p>
<p>In the wake of this unimaginable tragedy, Sadie vowed that her family would seek therapy to help them navigate their profound loss. She pledged to "continue to live" for her two older sons, emphasising the importance of cherishing the memories of her departed twins.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/aurora-and-kellan-starr" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoFundMe</a> page has been set up to assist them during this trying period, with the initial $10,000 target already being tripled. A recent update by Deanna Myers - on behalf of Sadie and Donn - reads:</p>
<p>"I don’t really know how to say thank you in a way that reflects how grateful we are to all of you. Those words aren’t good enough to express the gratitude we all feel. We’ve talked about this page and how it means so much just knowing that so many people are thinking about us and the beautiful babies we lost. Thank you to everyone helping here and at home. The support we’ve gotten from family and friends and everyone who’s donated is overwhelming. It won’t be taken for granted."</p>
<p><em>Images: GoFundMe</em><span style="font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Open Sans', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;"> </span></p>
