THEY'RE HOME AT LAST!

A video of these premature twins leaving hospital after 98 days has gone viral - and the best news is they have a clean bill of health

- NADINE RAMONGANE

THE guard of honour snakes down the stairs and lines the entrance hall leading to the large glass doors of the hospital. Hundreds of staff members sing, dance and clap as two tiny bundles snooze obliviously, each one cradled in the arms of a doctor.

Intensive care nurses and maternity sisters at Life Rosepark Hospital in Bloemfontein also get a turn to hold the babies before handing them to their proud parents.

King and Kingston Pebane are going home, and their moving hospital farewell is captured on video and spreads quickly around the country.

It's viewed and shared thousands of times, a feel-good clip that's balm to the souls of woe-weary South Africans.

The date the boys go home 19 January - is the day they were supposed to enter the world.

But King and Kingston were born at just 26 weeks and it was touch and go whether they'd make it. King weighed 490g and Kingston just 430g, both smaller than a brick of butter and the tiniest babies ever born at the hospital.

They were delivered via C-section on 13 October and although things were tense at times, they're thriving now and their doctors have given them a clean bill of health.

Mom Tshegofatso (37) and dad Karabelo (45) kept a near-constant vigil at their babies' sides during the 98 days they spent in hospital - 17 of them on a ventilator.

"We couldn't even hold them after birth, Tshegofatso says. "They were too small. All we could do was pray.

Doctors initially gave the boys a slim chance of survival and staff worked around the clock to care for them.

"We just had to leave everything in God's hands, Tshegofatso says.

She and her husband spent long days at the hospital and when they were at home they were gripped with fear every time the phone rang.

But as the days crept by, the story of King and Kingston became one of hope.