Twosie Maxi - The Jonah Collection

HOW THE JONAH COLLECTION WAS CREATED! For me 2020 was all about Covid, but it was also about getting time to work on projects you thought would not come to fruition for another 12 months. On April 14th 2020 I received an email from a lady called Edel Glynn, it read. “HI MARINA I HOPE YOU DO NOT THINK I AM CRAZY FOR REACHING OUT LIKE THIS, BUT IT IS WELL-INTENTIONED AND WITH GREAT EXCITEMENT! I JUST SAW A CLIP OF THE TWOSIE VEST THERE ON FACEBOOK AND WANTED TO INVESTIGATE FURTHER, THIS WOULD BE IDEAL FOR MY LITTLE BOY AND WAS DELIGHTED TO SEE YOU ARE IN BALLINROBE, MAYO, WE ARE IN GALWAY! SO, I HAD TO HOLD MYSELF BACK FROM CALLING THE NUMBER ON THE WEBSITE!!! ANYWAY, LOVE THE IDEA OF WHAT YOU HAVE COME UP WITH, IT IS SO PRACTICAL! I WENT ON THE WEBSITE TO ORDER BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE SIZE RANGE IS TOO SMALL FOR MY BOY AND I JUST WONDERED IS IT SOMETHING YE MIGHT CONSIDER PRODUCING SAME FOR OLDER CHILDREN? I AM THINKING A NICHE IN THE MARKET FOR CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS.    MY OWN BOY JONAH IS 4, JONAH WAS BORN IN 2015 WITH A RARE HEART DEFECT WHICH MEANT ONLY HALF OF HIS HEART HAD DEVELOPED. THERE IS NO CURE OR FIX FOR THIS, BUT WE MET A GREAT TEAM OF SPECIALISTS IN CRUMLIN CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL WHO HAD A PLAN TO HELP HIM SURVIVE WITH HALF A HEART AND AT 4 DAYS OLD JONAH UNDERWENT HIS FIRST HEART SURGERY. AFTER 3 WEEKS IN ICU AND A FURTHER 2 WEEKS IN THE HEART UNIT JONAH CAME HOME TO GALWAY TO CONTINUE HIS RECOVERY. WITH WEEKLY HOSPITAL CHECK-UPS AND MONITORING, JONAH JUST HAD SOME GROWING TO DO BEFORE HIS NEXT OPEN-HEART SURGERY SCHEDULED FOR A FEW MONTHS LATER. BUT AT 8 WEEKS OLD, DISASTER STRUCK WHEN JONAH SUFFERED AN OUT-OF-HOSPITAL CARDIAC ARREST. HUGE EFFORTS WERE MADE TO RESUSCITATE HIM, AND HE WAS RUSHED BACK TO THE ICU HE HAD LEFT ONLY WEEKS PREVIOUSLY. HEAVEN WAS STORMED WITH PRAYERS, PETITIONS WERE MADE AND CANDLES WERE LIT AND VIGILS WERE HELD IN THE HOPES OF A MIRACLE.  JONAH SURVIVED BUT WAS LEFT WITH BRAIN STEM INJURY AND CEREBRAL PALSY BECAUSE OF LACK OF OXYGEN TO THE BRAIN.   HE HAS A LOT OF MEDICAL ISSUES AND IS PEG FED AND I CHANGE HIS ADAPTED VESTS AT LEAST 4 TIMES EVERYDAY AND AS OFTEN AT NIGHT. HE ALSO HAS AUTISM AND HAS DEVELOPED AN AVERSION TO CLOTHES COMING ON OR OFF OVER HIS HEAD MAKING CHANGING HIS CLOTHES AND WET VEST A SHEER BATTLE AND I HATE IT.   I HAVE RESORTED TO USING THE HAIRDRYER TO TRY TO DRY THE WET PARTS OF HIS VEST THAT WOULD TOUCH HIS SKIN AND LEAVE THE PART THAT COVERS THE NAPPY STILL WET IN A BID TO AVOID HAVING TO REMOVE HIS CLOTHES AGAIN. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE THAT IS NOT IDEAL AND NOT HYGIENIC BUT NEEDS MUST, AND HE IS NOT A FAN OF THE NOISE OF THE HAIRDRYER BUT TOLERATES IT BETTER THAN THE CLOTHES GOING OVER HIS HEAD.   SO, WHILE I CAN GET THE ADAPTED VESTS (FOR PEG ACCESS, WHICH IS NECESSARY FOR MY SON, I STILL HAVE THE ISSUE OF CHANGING THEM. HOWEVER, YOUR IDEA OF THE ’TWOSIE’ WOULD BE A GAME CHANGER FOR US.     PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF IT IS SOMETHING YOU WOULD CONSIDER AND IF NOT, THANK YOU FOR READING MY EMAIL AND CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR INNOVATIVE IDEA. I THINK IT IS BRILLIANT AND WISH YOU EVERY SUCCESS WITH IT KINDEST REGARDS EDEL GLYNN”     When you receive an email like this, it makes you literally stop in your tracks, so we got working on it straight away. A larger Twosie was something I had considered as I had done some research around how the Twosie would be beneficial to the additional/special/medical needs of children. I got in contact with our designer Sue Mee Maudsley in London and worked with Edel to get the Twosie spec right for larger sizes. We have now launched The Twosie in larger sizes ranging from 2 years to 7 years and is designed to make life just that little bit easier for you and your little one. We hope you like the story about how ‘The Jonah Collection’ was created. Due to Covid I still have not had the pleasure of meeting Jonah or his parents yet, but I am looking forward to the day I do.