WHILE many families enjoyed Easter together last weekend, one Bunbury family is still fighting to be able to live together under one roof.
As twin sisters Eden and Willow Turner approach their first birthday, their mother Jessica is determined to see her four daughters living together and bonding as a family.
Eden and Willow were born prematurely in May last year with a 30 per cent chance of survival.
The babies beat the odds but Eden required a full airway reconstruction and had a pipe inserted into her windpipe to stabilise her breathing.
She has spent all but five weeks of her life in hospitals.
The Turner family have been told by their doctors that Eden can go home, but would need around-the-clock monitoring and her pipe needs to be constantly cleared.
Mrs Turner has to suction Eden’s pipe every fifteen minutes during the day and once an hour at night so she can breathe.
Mrs Turner said she had hoped Eden would be at home for her first birthday next month, but it was not looking good.
“We have never had a chance to be at home together as a family – the kids are coping okay, but they get upset because she’s not there and keep asking when she can come home.”
Mrs Turner spends up to five hours a day at Bunbury Regional Hospital before she has to leave Eden to care for her other children after school.
South West MLC Adele Farina has put pressure on the state government to provide funding for a home carer.
The family has been told that funding has been fully allocated from CATCH, a program that funds children who are dependent on technology and are cared for by their families at home.
A government spokeswoman said alternative funding opportunities were currently being investigated.
