A father spoke today of his triple heartbreak as he prepared to bury his twin baby boys - less than a year after his baby daughter died.

On Thursday, Peter Henson, 21, from Little Horton, Bradford, will lay the bodies of twins Reece and Kyle to rest in the same cemetery where his daughter, Shelby Marie, is buried.

The boys will be dressed in clothes taken from two porcelain dolls because Peter and the twins' mother, Karen Troy, could not find clothes small enough to fit them.

He and Karen, 17, are still recovering from the shock of the deaths and are staying with his mother.

Kyle and Reece were born three months prematurely, weighing just over 1lb each and were no bigger than an adult's hand.

Reece was stillborn but Kyle battled on a life-support machine for three days before his parents agreed to have it switched off. Their deaths were a double blow for Peter, who buried daughter Shelby in Scholemoor Cemetery last October. Shelby, Peter's child from a previous relationship, died after she was born with her umbilical cord around her neck.

Peter, a machine operator, said: "When Shelby died it didn't really hit me until her funeral. I just don't know how I'm going to react when the twins are buried.

"We want them buried in the same coffin. I tried to buy them some new clothes for the funeral but none of the shops had small enough sizes.

"In the end we had to buy two porcelain dolls from Rawson Market and take the clothes off them but they're still slightly too big."

Peter recalled how Karen's waters broke as she arrived at Bradford Royal Infirmary last Friday from their Manchester Road flat.

"Kyle was born at 3.10am and then Reece about an hour later, although he was stillborn."

After Kyle's life-support machine was switched off, staff put together two photo albums of the young parents with their children, which they keep in a memorial box.

Looking through the box, Karen - who was born partially paralysed down her right side - said: "I'm taking their deaths very hard.

"We can't go back to the flat because all the baby clothes and toys are still there."

Peter said he had split with Shelby's mother, Kelly Travers, by the time his daughter was born last October.

He proposed to Karen on New Year's Eve and they plan to marry next year.

e-mail: charles.heslett

@bradford.newquest.co.uk

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