Kostas and Poppy Gribilas were overjoyed this week with the birth of their twins Emmanuel and Stephania on Tuesday March 1 and announced it on social media.
“Hi everyone, it’s Konstantina, mummy and daddy’s angel. I am so excited to announce that this morning at 11.45 my little brother and sister came to this world. Emmanuel is 3126g and Stephania is 2788g. I am celebrating up here in heaven knowing that my brother, sister and mummy are all doing fine. Thank you for you prayers. Love Konstantina Gribilas xxxx.”
The post was written by Kostas in the spirit of his eight-month-old daughter Konstantina, who tragically passed away almost two-and-a-half years ago.
The former journalist and his family have experienced a host of ups and downs in the past few years.
In 2008, Kostas was discovered to have a heart malfunction, which would leave him in intensive care fighting for his life.
Thanks to the generosity of Oliver and Rosemarie Zammit, his life was saved with a heart transplant, after the pair decided to donate their 20-year-old son Doujon’s heart, who was killed by a bouncer while on holiday in Greece.
Kostas’ life finally appeared to be on a good trajectory, having met his now wife Poppy, followed by the birth of their daughter Konstantina.
But more heartache was on the horizon, after the pair rushed their eight-month-old to Randwick Children’s Hospital with symptoms of dehydration.
“She was teething, and when babies are teething they don’t eat properly, so we thought she was dehydrated and we took her straight to the hospital,” Poppy told Neos Kosmos in an interview in 2014. “Within 48 hours we lost her.”
The heart complications proved too severe for the little girl to hold on.
Soon afterwards Kostas and Poppy decided to create The Konstantina Angelique Gribilas Foundation in memory of their little angel and to help raise funds for the Children’s Hospital and other worthwhile charities.
But for now, the doting parents will have their hands full with their twin miracles.
For more information, visit the foundation’s facebook page at www.facebook.com/KonstantinaAngelique