SHARON, Mass. — Triplets Isabella, Gabriella, and David Zelenchuk are graduating from Sharon High School this week. Beforehand, they decided to reunite with doctors and nurses who cared for them in their first, premature days.
Their mother, Renata, is a nurse at Brigham and Women’s Hospital where the triplets were born 18 years ago.
“They beat all the odds,” she told Boston 25 Sunday.
The triplets were born prematurely at 32 weeks and two days and needed constant medical care for nearly two months in the hospital.
Renata explained, “A lot of challenges. A lot of tears. Happy moments and sad moments.”
After weeks of constant care from medical professionals, the babies were able to go home healthy.
Now days away from their high school graduation, Renata wanted to do something special.
She asked, “What about reuniting them with the NICU team just to show where their life journey began?”
The family decided to return to the hospital Wednesday and were able to meet some of the doctors and nurses who cared for them 18 years ago.
“There were a few nurses that remembered us,” said David.
Gabriella added, “They remembered where we were in the hospital. They remembered our parents holding us and coming every day to see us… We also got to see diapers NICU babies wear.”
During the tour of the NICU, the triplets were given goodie bags and shirts calling them “Brigham and Women’s Hospital Alumni.”
David continued, “It was just wonderful to see the same beds we were in.”
David will be heading to the Rochester Institute of Technology this summer. Gabriella plans to attend Northeastern University. Isabella is heading to George Washington University.
All three of them plan to study and work in the medical field one day. They say the care they received in their first days led them to the decision—wanting to give back in the same way.
Isabella explained, “It really inspired me to take the premed track. Going back to the NICU, it validated that even more.”
Their mother finished, “They became very good people … I’m very proud and I’m very lucky.”
The triplets said they are in contact now with medical professionals they met Wednesday offering to help them in their future careers.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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