Twins a Godsend for beleaguered couple who lost 2 daughters in boat mishap

It was an unexpected blessing in the form of the twins, daughters, that has now given T Appala Raju and Bhagyalakshmi of the Port City a new hope in life.

Visakhapatnam:Newborn twins have come as a Godsend for a couple that saw their world come crashing down after they lost their two daughters in a boat mishap in the river Godavari two years ago.

It was an unexpected blessing in the form of the twins, daughters, that has now given T Appala Raju and Bhagyalakshmi of the Port City a new hope in life.

"We are so happy and blessed. It's all God's grace," said a beaming Bhagyalakshmi.

Her family was pushed into gloom as they lost their two daughters in the boat mishap in the Godavari on September 15, 2019.

Appala Raju's mother was also killed in the accident when she was leading her granddaughters to Lord Rama's temple in Bhadrachalam in neighbouring Telangana in the ill-fated boat.

Bhagyalakshmi and her husband, an employee in a glass manufacturing unit, approached a fertility centre in the city last year for assisted pregnancy, but the COVID-19 pandemic put paid to their efforts.

But luck smiled on them this year as the efforts fructified and twin daughters delivered through IVF process, precisely on September 15, 2021.

"We did not expect twins, but it's a real blessing,” Bhagyalakshmi said.

Dr Sudha Padmasree said the case was taken up as a challenge and priority.

"The couple were fully supportive," she noted.

The twins weighed 1.9 kg and 1.6 kg and were healthy. PTI