DEVOTED Cwmbran mum and dad Emma and Gareth Morgan were overwhelmed when they had twin girls.

After an emergency Caesarean Bobbi and Danielle were born tiny but healthy.

"When I first saw them I thought they were perfect," Emma said.

But aged just five weeks, Bobbi was suddenly struck down by a virus and suffered a cardiac arrest.

It took nearly ten minutes for doctors at the Royal Gwent Hospital to get the little girl's heart pumping again, but in those crucial minutes Bobbi suffered severe brain damage.

Emma and Gareth's world came crashing down around them.

Aged just 20 at the time, Gareth said: "Looking back I don't know how we coped, I don't know how we got through it."

Bobbi is now partially sighted, suffers from epilepsy and has just been diagnosed with cerebral palsy. She needs nine different medicines a day and her parents know their time with her is short.

But Emma and Gareth, of Fairwater, still smile through the strain.

Their little girls have also turned TV stars. The whole family is currently staying at Ty Hafan Children's Hospice, in Sully, and today received a visit from ITV's This Morning programme - part of the show's annual Pass the Parcel Appeal, which runs every Christmas.

For Emma and Gareth Ty Hafan is invaluable.

Emma said: "We first came here last January. Bobbi is looked after and we can relax, go shopping and do things with Dani like any normal family." The couple and Danielle stay in a family wing at the hospice, knowing Bobbi is in the hands of experts.

"They look after Bobbi 24 hours a day. It's lovely just to get some sleep," Emma said.

In the first year, sleep was a luxury for the pair, who often survived on three hours a night.

But despite the constant pressures, Emma and Gareth, who works at the Asda distribution centre in Chepstow, delight in Bobbi's breakthroughs. Emma said: "I remember the first time she smiled. She was five months old - it was brilliant.

"We were both crying and phoning everyone to tell them."

Bobbi and Danielle are also as close as any other twin sisters.

"They've got a real bond," Emma said, "and I can only see it getting stronger as they get older.

"Dani is always giving Bobbi kisses and she knows that when she gives her a piece of chocolate she's got to break a little bit off at a time."