Why one woman forgave her sister for killing her children

Danielle Lambert tragically lost her two children, Kaleigh, 5, and Shane, 4, in 2008 when her twin sister, Marci Thibault, walked them into oncoming traffic.

The children were in Marci’s care after Danielle sent them to stay with her for what was supposed to be a fun-filled family sleepover.

A few hours after hugging them goodbye, Danielle was woken up by a phone call from Massachusetts, where her children were staying.

Marci’s 16-year-old niece, Arielle, told her that police had called to say there had been an accident and she was ‘scared’.

Horrifically, Marci had suffered a mental breakdown whilst driving Danielle’s young children through a busy interstate road.

Marci had stopped the car in the wrong direction, started to undress herself and the young children before walking them into fast, oncoming traffic.

The children were taken to hospital but later died from their injuries.

Danielle told Good House Keeping that she thought Marci had her mental health under control

She said: “We thought Marci was taking medication and everything was under control.”

"She seemed perfectly normal when she picked up the kids at our house that night. But somewhere on the way to her house for the party, she suffered a psychotic breakdown.”

Marci continued to suffer psychotic episodes after Kaleigh and Shane’s funeral.

Danielle describes how she has also ‘lost’ her sister due to her mental illness, and that she forgives her for what happened.

She explains: "I woke up one day and realized that Marci was gone, too.”

"We'd done everything together, from camping to watching each others' kids and talking on the phone. It took me a few months, but I did forgive her. I realised it wasn't Marci who did this horrible act that day. She loved my kids as her own. It was the mental illness that did this."