WHEN identical twins Oscar and Harry Green were born three months prematurely, nurses at the John Radcliffe Hospital’s special care baby unit worked around the clock to save their lives.

Tragically, Harry died a day later, but Oscar is now a healthy 11-month-old.

To thank the hospital staff, dad Keith, 45, is planning to abseil 100ft down to the side of the hospital’s Women’s Centre to raise money for the unit.

Mr Green and wife his Helen, 30, were first aware of problems four months into her pregnancy, when doctors noticed lower-than-normal water levels in her womb.

Mr Green, of Bartlett Close, Witney, said: “We had a pretty traumatic pregnancy, we had scans every week.

“We were living week to week. The doctors said you might lose both twins or you might just lose one or they might both be ok.

“Every hour seemed like a week or longer and then we had to go through it all again next week.”

It is still not known what caused the problems.

The mum-of-five went into labour in April, three months early, and Harry, weighing 2.15lb, and Oscar, who weighed 2.05lb, were born two minutes apart.

The boys suffered from twin-to-twin syndrome – where the flow of blood is imbalanced – which caused Harry’s heart to double in size.

He died the next day.

Oscar was given a blood transfusion and kept in an incubator for six weeks to stabilise his breathing.

He stayed in the special care unit for three months.

Mr Green said: “I would get up in the morning, get the children off to school and then I would go to the hospital.

“I would then get the children from school, take them to see their brother at the hospital and then come home and get them tea.

“I would be doing the household chores until 1am.”

Grandparents Mick and Liz Green, from Wantage, helped to look after the couple’s children.

Oscar still has some breathing problems, which doctors believe will improve by the time he is two.

Former builder Mr Green said the nurses kept him going through the worst times.

He said: “We had highs with our surviving son, and then lows having to sort out a funeral for Harry.

“We got a lot of support from the nurses on a day-to-day basis.

“The main thing they did was to keep us calm when things started to go wrong.”

Mr Green will take part in the abseil on Sunday, March 28, in aid of SSNAP, the charity which supports the special care baby unit.

To donate to the special care unit, email ssnap@orh.nhs.uk or send a cheque to SSNAP, JR2, Level 2 Women’s Centre, Oxford, OX3 9DU.