Family passes on love for twins who died 61 years ago by helping other newborns

NEW WESTMINSTER, B.C. – More than 60 years after the death of their twins, a B.C. family is passing on its love for the little boy and girl by helping other newborns.

The Vroom family has donated $62,000 to Royal Columbian Hospital for the purchase of a special ventilator to help the smallest babies at the neonatal intensive care unit.

The ventilator supports the lungs of premature babies until they are able to breathe on their own.

Fraternal twins Robert and Christine Vroom died soon after their births in 1953 in Pembroke, Ont., where two hospitals have also benefited from the family’s financial gifts.

The twins’ father, Robert Vroom, died last year, and on Thursday their mother Isabel and four other family members visited Royal Columbian, where a relative once trained as a nurse.

Isabel Vroom says helping to ensure better care for little babies means a lot to the family.