The parents of a newborn baby who lived for less than two hours before becoming the UK's youngest ever organ donor explained on 23 April how donating their son's organs helped them cope with their grief.

One year on from the birth of twin boys Teddy and Noah, Jess Evans described how she and her partner Mike Houlston "felt like the luckiest people alive" when they first learnt she was expecting twins.

Yet 12 weeks into the pregnancy they were told that one of the babies - Teddy - had anencephaly: a rare birth defect which prevents the brain and skull from developing properly.

They were warned that anencephaly usually results in a baby dying in the womb, being stillborn or living for just moments after birth. On realising that Teddy wasn't expected to survive, the couple decided that they wanted to donate his organs.

Although transplant from such a young donor with anencephaly had never been achieved before, in April 2014, Teddy's kidneys were successfully transplanted into an adult patient suffering from renal failure. Speaking a year later, Jess explained how she had always considered organ donation to be important.

"I'm a very big believer in organ donation and the thought that he could possibly be living on through someone else is just . . . you know, I find it absolutely astonishing that they can even do that, so to have the opportunity for him to do that was just a blessing," she said.

"We just knew that Teddy's journey wasn't just supposed to be, you know, what happened. We knew there was going to be more. And when we thought about the organ donation we kind of felt this is his journey now, this is what we're going to do and we won't give up," Mike added.

After he and twin brother Noah were born, Teddy survived for just 100 minutes, a time his parents recall fondly.

"It felt like a lifetime we had with him, time kind of stood still for that two hours, didn't it?," Jess said.

"You could see that when Noah was lying next to Teddy they were brothers, you know. That was the first time Noah opened his eyes, was when he was next to Teddy. They definitely knew that they were together you know, and it was just such an overwhelming feeling of joy that they were there and they were together and we could give them that time," Mike recalled.

The parents said they will be sure to tell Noah - now a healthy one-year-old who plays with his older sister - all about his twin brother.

"He's the bravest soldier because he lived the purest and most innocent life, you know. Not many people can say that, you know, that they came to this world and lived such a pure and innocent life; but Teddy did and he went on and did such great things, and that's something that we're really going to make sure Noah's aware of when he grows up," Mike said.

Teddy was Britain's youngest organ donor, and although donation from new-borns is very rare Jess and Mike say it has helped them deal with their grief.

"Our grief has just been somewhat easier to kind of take, knowing that he has done something, he's started this legacy now," Mike said.

"What we say is it's a never-ending journey now for Teddy because it doesn't stop now. He may have passed away that day, but from now on that's his legacy, he's going to go on and he's going to save more lives," he added.

Jess said that she hoped their experience meant other parents would consider organ donation in the future.

More than 10,000 people currently need an organ transplant in the UK, according to the NHS.

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