Port Lincoln twins Ava and Valli Johnson separated amid devastating health battle from common virus
Twins Ava and Valli have always been inseparable. But a recent bout of a common illness has torn the three-year-olds, and their family, apart.
Cold & Flu
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Three-year-old twins Ava and Valli Johnson have always been devoted to one another; riding bikes, reading books and playing together nearly every day of their lives.
Which is why their recent, unexpected separation is even more unbearable.
The Port Lincoln toddlers are currently in two different hospitals – Ava in the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and Valli at the Women’s and Children’s in Adelaide – as they fight a slew of complications brought on by a bout of influenza A.
Their heartbroken mum Naomi said the girls first showed signs of fever on Friday.
But over the weekend, Ava’s health quickly deteriorated.
By Monday, she and her husband Stephen, decided not to wait for a scheduled doctor’s appointment – and instead rushed the little girl to their local hospital.
The decision saved her life.
The influenza had triggered a wave of pneumonia, flooding Ava’s tiny lungs with fluid.
The tot had to be to be sedated and flown to Adelaide.
But her health battle didn’t end there.
Blood transfusions could not kill off a bacterial infection, and Ava’s heart couldn’t keep pumping on its own – meaning she had to be airlifted to Melbourne to undergo two heart surgeries within just two days.
“One minute you think you’ve just got a child with a high fever and a flu and they’re going to be okay,” Ms Johnson told The Advertiser.
“The next minute they’re having heart surgery multiple times.”
To make matters worse, Valli has been admitted to the Women’s and Childrens Hopsital in Adelaide with symptoms of influenza A at the same time.
“The girls are very close,” Ms Johnson said.
“This is the first time they’ve really been a apart from each other.
“(The doctors) put (Valli) on the antibiotics to prevent it getting worse.
“They put her on oxygen and an IV just to ensure that she didn’t obviously get to Ava’s condition.”
Ms Johnson, 33, a hair salon owner, said it’s been an “unreal” and “really hard” time for the close-knit family.
“If you told me the day before that you know this was going to happen I would never have believed it,” she said.
“But they’re getting through it – they’re tough little girls.”
To help with costs, a GoFundMe has been set up to support the Johnson family.
If you’d like to help, you can donate here.
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