WATCH: Miracle triplets' 'carousel' ride goes viral

Wednesday 22 April 2020

A local mum has been finding innovative ways of keeping her trio of two-year-olds entertained after six weeks in isolation - including transforming her washing line into a ‘fairground carousel’.

The move has sent Jersey's 'miracle triplets' viral, with a clip of Willow, Primrose and Jasper Bennett enjoying the homemade ride being watched and shared thousands of times on social media.

The family made headlines in 2018 when islanders rallied to support the premature triplets, who were taken to the UK to receive life-saving treatment.

Now, parents Rebecca and Daniel are making news for a different reason: their creativity in keeping the youngsters smiling throughout lockdown.

“We were thinking of different ways to keep them occupied in our tiny garden,” Rebecca told Express. “They love going to the park and going on the swings so, as a joke, Daniel’s dad suggested putting three swings on the washing line.”

Rebecca ordered the swings online and said she was “amazed” by the result.

“Being a parent of multiples, it’s difficult to give them all attention at the same time. Our three are all at different stages developmentally, so we usually have to do different activities for each of them.

“This is something they all enjoy. It’s great that they can have a good time together.”

Pictured: Rebecca Bennett with the triplets in 2018. 

The video was soon picked up by Facebook group ‘It’s gone viral’, and has now been viewed almost 200,000 times. 

As the triplets are more vulnerable to covid-19, the family is on week six of self-isolation.

“It’s definitely challenging,” Rebecca said, “but it’s forced us to get creative.” 

Other activities have included renting a bouncy castle for their driveway, and turning a paddling pool into a sand pit for ‘beach days’. Rebecca joked that they plan to expand their garden “fairground” with “candy floss and coconuts.”

Pictured: The Bennett family have been in self-isolation for six weeks due to the triplets being at higher risk. 

The family usually rely on support from physiotherapists and speech and language therapists.

Although this has been “difficult” during the pandemic, Rebecca still looks on the bright side: “We were lucky that Jasper accessed a hearing aid just before lockdown. He’s much more responsive now and is happier that he can interact with his siblings. He’s laughing and clapping, things that he wasn’t doing before.”

Rebecca says she is looking forward to getting “back on track” and “continuing with their development” after lockdown. For now, though, she says “as long as we get them laughing each day, that’s the main thing!”