This July 4th, Miami Lakes residents Barbara and Raysol Garcia will celebrate the nation's independence day along with the 15th birthday of their fraternal twins, Hannah and Gabriel Garcia. The twins, which their parents call the “miracle twins,” for both the manner and conditions in which they were born, entered the world amid fireworks erupting from Milander park near a Hialeah hospital.
Barbara Garcia, who has an extensive heart history due to a congenital heart defect, has undergone three open heart surgeries in her lifetime, and the then recent implantation of a pacemaker, making her pregnancy with Hannah and Gabriel extremely high risk.
The twins were both born healthy and happy, to the relief of Barbara and her husband. The family eventually welcomed a third child, Samuel, a few years later. All three children have attended Bob Graham Education Center and the twins are now at Barbara Goleman Senior High School.
“What keeps me going is thinking I've been given a second chance, I've been blessed with three beautiful kids and I'm busy at life,” said Barbara. “There are so many things I want to see and do.”
Hannah and Gabriel will be celebrating their fifteenth birthday party as a traditional Hispanic “quinces” event in late July, though the country's celebration will always parallel their own.