REECE Dalton-Brockwell will never meet his twin brother.

The 11-week-old baby boy came home for the first time this week.

He has spent his whole life in hospital being given specialist care after being born 13 weeks prematurely.

But doctors were unable to save his non-identical twin, Marc.

Parents Sheree Cutler and Marc Dalton-Brockwell, of Kings Road, Dovercourt, have thanked friends, family and anonymous members of the community for donations and support since the brothers were born in May.

Sheree, a support worker at Acorn Village in Mistley, said the family have been overwhelmed with the generosity of people, some of them strangers.

“I fell pregnant last November and found out it was twins just after Christmas,” she said.

“The pregnancy was plain sailing until my waters broke 13 weeks early.

“They said the heartbeats were fine and I was sent home - I felt so well.

“That evening I started having contractions and my partner called an ambulance, I was blue lighted to Colchester General Hospital.”

The twins were born at 2.42am and 3.22am and were taken to the special care baby unit. Marc weighted just 1lb 8oz and Reece 2lb 1oz.

“I was a bit worried,” the 36-year-old added. “By about 11.30am I had a consultant and a midwife come in and say my first baby wouldn’t last the day.

“They were going to work on him for another hour and a half, but we had to make the decision to let him go.

“They couldn’t get a line in for medication and to get his lungs working.

“Our baby passed away in our arms with his grandparents and auntie and uncle there by our side.”

Reece was taken to Norwich and Norfolk Hospital for special care for two weeks before returning to Colchester Hospital for ongoing care.

But on Monday he was finally allowed home, though has to be on oxygen 24 hours a day.

Sheree said: “It’s amazing to have him home, and we’ve just had so much support.

“People we don’t know have sent messages and people have sent money to the special care unit at Colchester General Hospital.

“People have brought Reece and our two-year-old Thierry both presents. “We had people come and drop off food at the wake.The community has been unbelievable, it’s amazing.

“The whole community has rallied around, it’s like their lives had stopped as well as ours.”

Gifts have included premature baby clothes for Reece, a Toy Story T-shirt for Thierry and matching baby-grow for Reece, and even a baby monitor with camera.

“A lot of people that have donated we don’t even really know,” Sheree added. “Sometimes there would be a knock and then a present just in the porch.

“We want to say thank you to the people of Harwich.”