Twin sisters receive birthday cards from dad who died
Gemini girls receive touching birthday messages from their late father after he left 30 years worth of cards for his beloved girls.
In a touching gesture, Nick Keenan of Linfield wrote future birthday cards for his daughter Rose and Sophia when they were just 17 months old.
The father of two tragically died of a brain tumor but wanted his twins to receive birthday messages from him every year.
The girls recently opened their fourth birthday card from him, to which he said they would soon start school and take care of each other.
He tragically passed away at the age of 34 in November 2020, nine months after being told his tumor had developed into a glioblastoma (GBM).
In a heartwarming gesture, Nick Keenan, from Linfield, wrote birthday cards for his twin daughters for the next 30 years as he died of a brain tumor
Sophia and Rose recently celebrated their fourth birthday where they both opened a card from their late father
Nick’s wife, Victoria Keenan, conceived their twin girls through IVF treatment
Nick was diagnosed with a tennis ball-sized astrocytoma in 2015 after weeks of suffering with pins and needles shooting down his right arm.
He underwent two debulking surgeries, radiotherapy, infusion and oral chemotherapy, prescribed cannabinoids, and a number of natural remedies.
Nick’s wife Victoria said, “Nick was everyone’s rock, and very much mine.”
“He was incredibly strong and went through his radiotherapy and chemotherapy every day, which inspired me.”
“He also managed to support me going through IVF as any good husband would, even though he was going through much bigger things. It was never about him.’
“He comforted others as he was dying and wrote our girls, Rose and Sophia, birthday cards for the first 30 years of their lives.”
“He wanted to be with them in mind as they celebrated their birthdays without him.”
“Hopefully that will give them a better idea of where he was at that stage in his life.”
Nick was diagnosed with a tennis ball-sized astrocytoma in 2015 after shooting pins and needles down his right arm
He sadly passed away at the age of 34 in November 2020, nine months after being told his tumor had developed into a glioblastoma
Nick wanted his daughters to receive birthday cards from him so that he could be with them in their thoughts on their special days
Victoria was at the gym when Nick returned early from a business trip and said he was going to the hospital.
The 35-year-old said, “When I entered the room and saw Nick had been crying, I knew something was wrong.”
“They sat me down and told me they found a lesion the size of a tennis ball on the left side of his brain, in the middle of his frontal lobe.”
“They said it grew slowly and had probably been there since birth.”
Nick’s surgery and subsequent radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatment went so well that he and Victoria decided to go ahead with their plans to start a family.
Victoria said: ‘We just went on with our lives and thought we were winning, and then we decided to go ahead with IVF.’
“Then, in December 2019, when our girls were just six months old, Nick noticed his speech had become slurred.”
“We contacted the doctor and finally went back in after Christmas.”
“I had a really weird gut feeling that it was going to be our last Christmas, so I organized the biggest party by inviting everyone to come and stay with us.”
“In March 2020, we found out his tumor had progressed to a glioblastoma (GBM) and were told he probably had less than a year to live.
“In fact, Nick lasted nine months after that GBM diagnosis.”
Nick underwent further treatment and was eligible for a clinical trial when he was told there was nothing more that could be done.
After falling unconscious at home one night in November 2020, Nick was taken to a local hospice where he died the following morning.
Victoria said, “My parents dropped everything to take care of the girls, who were asleep, and I slept in a bed in the same room as Nick in hospice, head to toe with his mother.”
Nick was told by doctors in March 2020 that he likely had less than a year to live
“I think the last thing he remembered was being home with his family. He never really knew he went to hospice and died at 4am the next morning.
“I came home at 6 a.m., washed up, and stayed mommy to our 17-month-old daughters, knowing that daddy was no longer with us.”
Victoria bought Nick a Miniature Dachshund puppy after his diagnosis. That pup, named Poppy, also died of a brain tumor six months after Nick did.
‘I just couldn’t believe it; they were inseparable and I think she was sent to look after him, so she went with him,” said Victoria, who is now urging people to sign a petition for charity.
She is campaigning with Brain Tumor Research to help the petition to increase research funding collect 100,000 signatures, hoping to spark parliamentary debate.
Go to to sign and share the petition before it closes at the end of October 2023 www.braintumourresearch.org/petition