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Life rarely gives us the storybook moment where darkness turns to triumph—but it does happen. Kate and David Ogg had such a moment. The Australian couple welcomed premature twins into the world on March 25, 2010, but their joy quickly turned to heartbreak when doctors told them that their baby boy, Jamie, hadn’t survived. What happened next would become a story of love, resilience, and the extraordinary power of a mother’s touch.

Kate and David had been ecstatic to learn they were expecting twins, but their excitement was overshadowed when the babies arrived prematurely at just 27 weeks. Doctors worked tirelessly to save them, but after 20 minutes of efforts, Jamie was pronounced dead. Devastated, the medical team placed his tiny body on Kate’s chest so she could say her goodbyes.


As she held him close, she and David spoke to him, telling him about his twin sister, Emily, and how much he was loved. Kate gently stroked his face and held his tiny fingers, unwilling to let go just yet. Then, against all odds, Jamie gasped.

A newborn on its mother's chest. Representative Image: Skin to skin contact is becoming a more comon part of many birthing plans. Canva

"We feel so fortunate. We're the luckiest people in the world."

— David Ogg

At first, doctors dismissed it as a reflex. But then he moved again. Clinging to hope, Kate placed a drop of breast milk on her finger and touched it to Jamie’s lips. Incredibly, he swallowed. His breathing became more stable, and his body gradually warmed up.

“I’d carried him inside me for only six months—not long enough—but I wanted to meet him and to hold him, and for him to know us,” Kate told Today. “We’d resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose him, and we were just trying to make the most of those last, precious moments.”

The power of skin-to-skin contact

What happened in that hospital room wasn’t something doctors could easily explain, but it reinforced a growing body of research about the benefits of skin-to-skin contact, sometimes called "kangaroo care." Studies have shown that placing newborns—especially premature babies—on a parent’s chest helps regulate their breathing, stabilize heart rates, and even improve survival rates.

"The twins are developing completely normally."

— Kate Ogg

Jamie’s survival wasn’t just a miracle—it was a testament to the incredible bond between mother and child.

The Oggs shared an update on their twins two years after that unforgettable day. Kate playfully asked them, "Where’s your nose? Where are your ears?" Emily and Jamie pointed proudly to the right spots. When she asked, "Where's your belly?" both lifted their shirts with matching grins.

In 2011, the Ogg family grew again with the arrival of another baby, Charlie, who was born full-term and weighed over 10 pounds. "A little sumo," Kate affectionately called him.

A newborn staring at the camera. Representative Image: Arriving in a new world can be a challenge. Canva

A mother’s instinct

After her experience with Jamie, Kate approached Charlie’s birth differently. “Just give him to me when he’s born,” she told her doctor, fully trusting the power of immediate skin-to-skin contact.

The family eventually moved to a quiet coastal town in New Zealand, where they settled into life with their three children. But even as the years passed, Kate admitted she still felt the need to check on Jamie more than usual. "I panic if they sleep in too long and I don’t hear a sound from the nursery. I’m a bit too morbid, I think," she said.

"Technically, you're two minutes older. But Emily's been alive longer."

— Kate Ogg

Some miracles can’t be explained. But for the Ogg family, the proof of love’s power is right in their arms.

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A gay man in Vegas was approached by a 40-year-old stranger asking for advice on raising his son

A gay man in Vegas was approached by a 40-year-old stranger asking for advice on raising his son

Jack Remmington got a surprise he says he’ll never forget. While playing the slots in Las Vegas he and his friend were approached by a middle-aged man they had never met who wanted to know if they were gay. Although it was a relatively safe public space, you never know what might happen in a city fueled by alcohol, sex and gambling.

Source: GIPHY

Instead, the man who approached Remmington wanted to ask some perfectly wholesome advice about communicating with his young son whom he thinks is probably still in the closet. Remmington wrote about the interaction on his Twitter page and the breakdown has quickly gone viral for the best reasons. “Ok I just experienced the nicest exchange with a stranger and think it’ll help to share: I was playing on the Mariah Carey slots in Vegas (naturally) and a friendly circa-mid-40s ish guy sat down to play on the machine next to me,” Remmington wrote.

"I was sitting with @marcoalessifilm, both wearing pink (naturally) and after chatting a little to the guy about Vegas, he nervously asked if he could ask us a question. I knew where this was gonna go as it always does so did a bit of an inner eye roll but indulged him anyway."

"He then asked if we were together so we said no (we’re best friends and he has a fab bf) and he asked if we were gay, so we said yes. He then said he thinks his 13 year old son might be gay and wondered if he could ask us how best for him to navigate that."

"He lit up when talking about his son, and I nearly started crying at how much he clearly loved him. The guy wanted to know how to make his son feel most comfortable about himself whilst not being too overt and glaringly obvious in forcing a conversation about his sexuality."

Source: GIPHY

"This man is SO sweet. From rural Arkansas and said whilst things are so much better now, he still just wants the world to be totally equal for his son. Marco and I said he sounds like he’s doing all the right things and that making his son know he’s loved is the best he can do."

"We both gave a couple of anecdotes from personal experience, largely relating to condoning abstract things when you see them like normalising conversations around gay kisses on TV or calling our family conversations that might shame potential queerness."

"We also mentioned not accidentally policing things so as to shame him - for instance, often out of a sense of protection and love parents can frown on a child’s behaviour or outfit because they’re worried for their safety when on a night out etc."

Source: GIPHY

"But we stressed that if this was their feeling it’s important to vocalise this exactly, rather than leaving the child ruminating over the parent’s intentions and second guessing why they said what they said."

"So in terms of advice to friends or relatives of a potentially queer person, what would fellow queers advise is the best way to make it known they have their love and support without causing an uncomfortable conversation that might force someone to come out before they’re ready?"

You can read the whole thing on Remmington’s Twitter thread, here.

While it’s understandable that he and his friend were apprehensive about being approached, the exchange goes a long way toward showing we should never make too many hard assumptions about people based on their appearances alone.

Even in 2024, not every parent, child or friend has a safe space to educate themselves on LGBTQ issues.

Obviously, it would be ideal if this random guy had a friend, family member, or educator who could give him the advice he was looking for but we have to salute Remmington for being so generous and kind in his response. There’s so much we can learn from each other when we take the time to ask questions -- and listen.

Source: GIPHY

“My first impression was that he seemed nice as he chatted which is more than what tends to happen with people you sit next to in Vegas at the slots. That said, I didn’t expect it to take this turn at all,” Remmington said in an interview with Bored Panda.

“The relationship between him and his son has a 100% future – he was a wonderful and caring man, despite what he said was quite a difficult town to grow up in if you’re at all different. I wish all fathers could be like him.”

This article was originally published five years ago.

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