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Family gives back to March of Dimes years after needing the organization's assistance

By Bryan Gray
Published  May 1, 2025 4:59pm EDT
Florida
FOX 13 News
Family gives back to March of Dimes

Family gives back to March of Dimes

Allie Corey reports.

The Brief

    • 14 years ago, Isha and Diya Goel were born at 25 weeks gestation.
    • At the time, the March of Dimes helped the family navigate through their journey.
    • Now the family is giving back to the organization by knitting hats and baking cookies for the annual walk.

TAMPA - Becoming a first-time parent is full of its ups and downs and figuring things out along the way.  But for families of babies born premature, a lot of those figuring it out is left up to the doctors and nurses who make miracles happen. 

The Goel family witnessed the magic of the March of Dimes, and now they’re giving that magic back.  

Playing in harmony comes naturally for the Goel sisters. The 14-year-old Tampa twins do almost everything together.  

It's a different dynamic versus you have, like a younger and older sibling versus someone that you're going through literally everything with, said Isha Goel. 

"And it's kind of interesting because like she, I won't let her share clothes, but I'd give my organs if I had to." 

The backstory:

Diya is one minute older than her sister Isha. "Um, we hang out a lot, but we get on each other's nerves," said Diya. "Um, I have a lot of fun pestering her about books. She has fun harassing me about planes.  

The first-year students at Plant High School stay busy as members of the SFJ ROTC program, swim team, coding and piano instructors. But what the girls are most passionate about is knitting tiny little hats like the ones they wore at 25 weeks old. 

"They were one and a half pounds each at birth, just maybe a little longer than my palm," said Gunjan Goel ,their dad. 

The girls were born in Arizona and spent 73 days in the NICU. A long, scary journey for new parents Gunjan and Sunayna Goel. 

What they're saying:

"When the girls were born, they had so many attachments on their bodies that they could not wear any clothes," Sunayna said. But something happened in the middle of the unknown that gave them a sense of comfort.  "One fine day, when they were one month old, we reached the hospital and the girls were in like tiny hats and this little outfit," said Sunayna. 

Now the Goels are committed to giving that feeling of normalcy to other families in the NICU.  The girls even started a knitting club in middle school to collect as many hats as possible to donate.  

"It's like years later you go back, and you meet someone that helped you live, and it's like, wow, that's crazy you saved my life," said Isha. 

They're also raising funds and awareness for March of Dimes as this year's ambassador family. 

The organization that wrapped its arms around them when they needed it most.  

"There was so much community support in the hospital and outside the hospital that it was overwhelming at one point as well," Sunayna said. I

It's still hard to comprehend how these tiny little girls have grown into thriving young women.  

"We are proud of them. Yeah, yeah. I think they have achieved a lot in this little life they have," said Sunayna. "They don't realize the gravity of what they have accomplished as a baby because they don't remember much of this stuff, but we have seen them fighting." 

And now they're fighting for other families to have access to the same care, support and resources that helped their girls become who they are today.  

What's next:

The Goels are baking cookies to fundraise for the March of Dimes Walk for Babies which is happening this Saturday. 

For more on how you can join the fight for the health of all moms and babies, you can visit the March of Dimes website by clicking here.

The Source: Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13 journalist Bryan Gray.

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