{"id":233339,"date":"2026-01-08T01:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/233339\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T01:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T01:16:11","slug":"jesy-nelson-in-tears-as-she-says-missed-symptoms-cost-twin-girls-their-legs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/233339\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesy Nelson in tears as she says ‘missed symptoms cost twin girls their legs’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Little Mix star Jesy Nelson couldn’t hold back the tears on This Mornng as she discussed her twin babies’ diagnosis that could leave them without the ability to walk<\/p>\n

12:22, 07 Jan 2026Updated 21:18, 07 Jan 2026<\/p>\n

Jesy Nelson<\/a> broke down in tears on This Morning as she opened up about the missed chances to recognise her twin girls’ health diagnosis. The Little Mix<\/a> star recently shared that her eight month old twins have been diagnosed spinal muscular atrophy<\/a> and may never walk.<\/p>\n

The mum became emotional as she told presenters Cat Deeley<\/a> and Ben Shepherd: \u201cI could have prevented this from happening if I\u2019d have seen a video and caught it early enough,” but said she had never heard of the condition or the symptoms.<\/p>\n

Jesy 34, welcomed daughters Ocean Jade and Story Monroe<\/a> in May last year after they were born prematurely at 31 weeks.<\/p>\n

In her first interview since sharing the heartbreaking news, Jesy said: “My whole life has changed. My house looks like a hospital. My whole hallway is filled up with medical stuff and it’s just crazy how you can go from one extreme to the next.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: What is Jesy Nelson’s petition and how babies can be saved by ‘horrible’ disease<\/a>READ MORE: Jesy Nelson demands urgent change after twins’ diagnosis as Health Secretary steps in<\/a>\"ThisJesy struggled to hold back her emotions as she chatted to Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard (Image: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

Speaking about one of her twins, she said: “Bless Little Story, she has to be on a breathing machine at night because she isn’t strong enough to breathe by herself. I have to put feeding tubes down their noses and I’ve had to learn this within a few days of getting their diagnosis and it’s so much while you’re trying to deal with this horrendous thing that’s just happened.”<\/p>\n

Jesy couldn’t hold it together, as she admitted: “That’s the part that really gets to me – I just want to be their mum, I don’t want to be a nurse. It’s hard. I just want to reiterate that if it’s caught from birth, it’s life-changing. I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever get over it or accept it, but all I can do is try and do my best and try and make change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThisJesy admitted she’ll ‘never get over’ what has happened (Image: ITV)<\/p>\n

The former X Factor<\/a> star is now campaigning for SMA1 screening at birth and has started a petition to get the condition added to the newborn blood spot screening test, also known as the heel prick test.<\/p>\n

Jesy , who has 9.7 million followers on Instagram, said: \u201cI have this platform, and I almost feel like I\u2019ve got a duty of care to raise awareness about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cA little part of me feels \u2013 I don\u2019t know if this is even crazy to say this \u2013 it feels selfish to keep this to myself and not potentially save a child\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ThisThe star shared a series of heartbreaking snaps on the ITV show(Image: ITV)<\/p>\n

Jesy said she had raised concerns about her daughters’ breathing, which she says looked as though they were struggling. The star said she also watched as her girls moved their legs less as the weeks went by and said it was ‘frustrating’ she didn’t learn that something was wrong sooner.<\/p>\n

“When I took my babies home, the only thing I was concerned about was checking their temperature or are they still breathing. I wasn’t checking to see if their legs were still moving. It was weird<\/a> because when I was in NICU, the way they laid on my chest, they had frog leg positions and they’d lie on my chest. I noticed their bellies, they are an unusual shape, they breathe from the belly.<\/p>\n

“And that’s what is frustrating – if this was the cards I was always gonna be dealt then it would almost be easier to accept but there’s something that can be done about it and it is life-changing to your child. That’s the part I cannot accept and that’s why I’m going to shout from the rooftops about it.”<\/p>\n

\"JesyJesy candidly shared her story on This Morning(Image: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock)\"ThisShe noted that the twins appeared to breathing strangely (Image: ITV)<\/p>\n

She said: “It\u2019s alarming when you\u2019ve got healthcare visitors coming around telling you they are fine and healthy and doing really well, and it took for my mum to say, \u2018They don\u2019t move their legs how they should be moving\u2019. My mum is a worrier and at the time, I thought that was just mum being mum, but then I thought \u2018actually, they don\u2019t move them a lot\u2019 and every day I started to notice movements less and less and less\u2026 and when I watch back videos of them now from when I came home from NICU to now, they are moving their legs and then week 2, week 3 it gets less and less and after a month it just stops. And that\u2019s how quick it is, and that is why it\u2019s so important and vital to get treatment from birth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The star said she was told that her girls were premature and were developing slower than babies of their age, but she would “never accept” what had happened.<\/p>\n

“I will never accept this diagnosis. We could have saved their legs, she said. Updating Ben and Cat on her current situation with the twins, Jesy admitted that will all be about “constant physio” going forward.<\/p>\n

\"ThisCat leaned over to comfort Jesy as she struggled to hold back her emotions (Image: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThey\u2019ve had treatment now thank God, that that is a one off infusion. And that essentially puts the gene back in their body that they don\u2019t have. It stops any of the muscles that are still working from dying. But any that have gone you can\u2019t regain those back.”<\/p>\n

Despite the bleak prognosis, Jesy said she remains hopeful her girls will defy the odds. “It\u2019ll be a case of constant physio\u2026 we\u2019ve been told they will probably never walk, probably never regain their neck strength, they are going to be in wheelchairs\u2026 but listen, there have been so many stories where parents have been told this and their children have gone on to do incredible things, so I believe you\u2019ve just got to manifest this.<\/p>\n

“They are still smiling, they are still happy and they have each other and that\u2019s the thing I\u2019m so grateful for. They are going through this together and I think this is beautiful. All I can do is try my best to be there for them, give them positive energy, and keep doing physio\u2026 my whole life has completely changed.”<\/p>\n

\"ThisThe former girlband star is now campaigning for SMA1 screening at birth and has started a petition to get the condition added to the newborn blood spot screening test(Image: ITV)<\/p>\n

The former girlband star is now campaigning for SMA1 screening at birth and has started a petition to get the condition added to the newborn blood spot screening test, also known as the heel prick test. Scotland<\/a> has announced it will start screening babies for SMA from the spring, but the test is not currently available for newborns elsewhere in the UK.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told ITV<\/a> news he backed the singer\u2019s move to challenge the screening process for the rare genetic condition, and said she was \u201cright to challenge and criticise how long it takes to get a diagnosis\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jesy rose to fame after winning The X Factor in 2011 with Little Mix alongside Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall.<\/p>\n

She left the band in December 2020 after nearly a decade together, and has since released two songs as a solo artist: Boyz, which featured US rapper Nicki Minaj<\/a>, in 2021 and Bad Thing in 2023.<\/p>\n

It comes just days after the Boyz hitmaker took to Instagram<\/a> to thank fans for their support. Speaking to the camera, she said: “Hey guys, I just wanted to come on here to do another video to basically just say thank you genuinely so so much from the bottom of my heart for just the outpour of support, and beautiful messages for me and for so many other families who are dealing with this horrible diagnosis.<\/p>\n

“Genuinely, I’m overwhelmed with the amount of support. I want to thank anyone who has shared it, to everyone who wanted to learn about it, who watched it and sent me messages. Thank you from me and the SMA community.”<\/p>\n

Jesy added that she was already taking steps to bring attention to conditions like SMA. “I also wanted to say that I am starting a petition online to get SMA on the newborn screening and testing. I just need you to know that I am so determined to make this happen. So I’m going to fight as much as I can. It’s currently under review so I will keep you updated.”<\/p>\n

Jesy and her musician fiance Zion Foster welcomed their daughters in May. Over the ensuing months, Jesy noticed that her daughters were not moving as much as they should have been for their age and struggled to feed. She took them to the GP and they were eventually diagnosed with SMA Type 1.<\/p>\n

If you have been affected by this story, advice and support can be found at SMA UK. You can get in touch by phoning 01789 267520 or by emailing office@smauk.org.uk.<\/p>\n

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