Jesy Nelson‘s ex-fiancé Zion Foster has praised his ‘little fighter’ in a sweet video of baby Story Monroe doing tummy time after her and her twin, Ocean Jade’s devastating diagnosis.
Musician Zion, 27, wrote on Instagram on Tuesday: ‘Proud of you always Story Bear. My lil fighter’ as his little girl wriggled around.
The video is all the more poignant given the eight-month-old babies have been diagnosed with rare genetic condition, SMA Type 1, (Spinal Muscular Atrophy), which causes muscle weakness and atrophy, at birth.
Zion and Jesy, 34, have reportedly split from one another, just weeks after revealing their daughters had been diagnosed with the neuromuscular disorder.
On Tuesday, former Little Mix singer Jesy appeared left Health Secretary Wes Streeting fighting back tears as she begged for change to the SMA Type 1 testing.
Jesy Nelson’s ex-fiancé Zion Foster has praised his ‘little fighter’ in a sweet video of baby Story Monroe doing tummy time after her and her twin, Ocean Jade’s devastating diagnosis
Zion and Jesy, 34, have reportedly split from one another, just weeks after revealing their daughters had been diagnosed with the neuromuscular disorder (pictured 2025)
Musician Zion, 27, wrote on Instagram on Tuesday: ‘Proud of you always Story Bear. My lil fighter’ as his little girl wriggled around
Jesy sobbed ‘no parent should have to go through this’ as she met with the MP to discuss screening children at birth for the rare genetic issue.
Jesy opened up on the diagnosis of her twin daughters earlier this month.
She took to This Morning to open up on how her daughters could be wheelchair-users for their entire lives, and currently require round-the-clock care.
The heartbroken mother previously admitted that if her twins had been diagnosed with the condition earlier, she could have had an opportunity to ‘save their legs’.
Ocean and Story weren’t tested for SMA, because the test is not yet routine for newborns across the UK.
The test uses a heel prick to take blood to screen for the condition, and early awareness can help children get vital treatment to manage the symptoms sooner.
‘Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare genetic condition that can cause muscle weakness. It gets worse over time, but there are medicines and other treatments to help manage the symptoms,’ according to the NHS website.
On Tuesday, former Little Mixsinger Jesy appeared left Health Secretary Wes Streeting fighting back tears as she begged for change to the SMA Type 1 testing
Since opening up about the diagnosis of her daughters, Jesy has been campaigning the testing becoming standard for newborn babies across the country – after it was last ruled out in 2018 by the UK NSC.
The UK National Screening Committee are currently reviewing the case again – with the next report on the process to formally adopt the tests within the NHS expected to be in progress until 2028.
If SMA1 is treated pre-symptomatically (at or near birth), the disease can be largely prevented, and many children develop with minimal or no symptoms.
Meeting with Health Secretary Wes, 42, Jesy was seen grilling the MP as she explained the importance of the testing.
The singer told him: ‘So many families have reached out and told me their stories, they have been screaming and shouting about it for many years, it’s now had to take what for me to come along, who has a few million followers, to be taken seriously.
‘My question is, why did it have to take, for me to come along with a platform for people to take it seriously?
‘It’s just madness to me that we are living in a day and age now where we have got treatments that are life changing and [SMA] is] still not part of the heel prick test.
Considered the most severe form of SMA, Type 1 symptoms include extreme muscle weakness, difficulties swallowing and respiratory issues (pictured, Ocean and Story)
‘There’s going to be so many more babies that are gonna be diagnosed, and so many families that are going to have to experience what I’m going through right now when it doesn’t need to be happening.’
Wes explained: ‘That’s the pressure I feel, because it could have been so different if you got an earlier diagnosis.
‘There’s some good news, in terms of screening, there is a live evaluation going on now that will give us, I hope, the evidence base to bring forward what you are calling for.
‘That evaluation, which will involve around two thirds of babies, isn’t due to report until January 2028 – we’re talking two years from now.
‘Can we make sure the evaluation involves all babies during the trial period, and secondly, can we bring it forward? That’s what they’re working on at the moment.’
A source said: ‘She and Zion remain friends and are fully focused on their daughters’ (pictured together on This Morning July 2025)
Jesy and Wes went on to have an off-camera discussion during the VT that was played on This Morning, before once again appearing on screen for a second emotional chat.
She was seen breaking down in tears after showing Wes a video of a child affected by SMA type 1 in a wheelchair, and left the MP struggling to hold back emotions as he vowed to make changes.
Jesy told Wes: ‘I know that [the video] really impacted you because it’s literally when you see it in real life and you see the severity of how life changing is, it’s the case of your child could walk or your child will be in a wheelchair.
‘I’m so passionate about trying to raise awareness about this and making the change because I believe that no parent should ever have to go through this.’
Wiping a tear from his eye, Wes added: ‘I found that video really hard, I find it hard listening to you as well… I found that really hard to watch.
‘I’ll be honest, I didn’t know [about the importance of SMA testing] until your experience and your campaign and the way you’ve spoken so powerfully and emotionally about your own experience.
‘I wasn’t aware of the way in which the testing had come along leaps and bounds, and I appreciate people watching will be like, “What the hell? You’re the health secretary?”
Jesy is now campaigning for SMA1 screening at birth and has started a petition to get the condition added to the newborn blood spot screening test, also known as the heel prick test
‘But I’ll be a dog with a bone on this. I feel hopeful that because this evaluation study is already set up and designed to start.
‘I’ve got two things I really want to go away and drill into. One is, can it start sooner? And secondly, when it’s up and running, it’s only going to screen two thirds, can we go further on that?
‘Those, those are the two things that I want to really drill into, and then report back to you. I feel a responsibility to the whole SMA community as well.’
It comes after Jesy broke down in tears on This Morning as she shared a heartbreaking update on her twin daughters’ muscle disease in her first TV interview since their devastating diagnosis earlier this month.
Jesy appeared on the latest instalment of the ITV show to talk about her daughters’ health with presenters Cat Deeley, 49, and Ben Shephard, 51.
The singer admitted that her home now ‘looks like a hospital’ after learning how to look after her twins and cater to their complex needs as she shared the most difficult aspects of the diagnosis.
Getting very emotional about her girls, Jesy said: ‘We’ve been told that they will probably never walk, they’ll probably never regain their neck strength. They are gonna be in wheelchairs.
Health Secretary Wes, 42, was seen struggling to hold back his emotion as she spoke to Jesy about the importance of screening babies for SMA
‘There’s been so many stories where parents have been told this and then their children have gone on to do incredible things, so I believe that you’ve just got to manifest that.
‘They are still smiling, they’re still happy. They have each other, and that’s like the main thing that I’m like so grateful for because they could be doing this by themselves, but they’re twins and they’re going through this together.
‘My whole life has just completely changed. If you came to my house, it looks like a hospital.
‘My whole hallway is filled up with medical stuff and it’s just crazy how you can go from one extreme to the next.
‘Story has to be on a breathing machine at night because she isn’t strong enough to breathe by herself at night, they have to have cough assists machines to help them cough, I have to put feeding tubes down their nose to like get out secretions off their chest.
‘I’ve had to learn this within the space of a few days of getting their diagnosis, and it’s just so much to deal with while you’re also trying to deal with this like horrendous thing that’s just happened and still be a mum as well.
‘That’s the part that I really, I’m still struggling with it, I won’t lie, but that is the part that like really gets me, is I just want to be their mum, I don’t want to be a nurse.
‘All I can do is just try my best to be there for them. Give them positive energy.’
Looking back over the signs that the two girls had been battling the condition before their diagnosis, she added: ‘I actually knew and saw all of the signs before I even know knew what SMA was.
‘But when I left the NICU, it was hammered home to me, “Don’t compare your baby, they’re not going to reach the same milestones, take them as they are” because they were premature.
‘When I took them home from NICU, the only thing I was really concerned about at that time was like checking their temperature, making sure they’re still breathing. I’m not checking to see if their legs are still moving…
‘And that’s what’s frustrating knowing that for me, if this was the cards I was always going to get dealt and there was nothing I could do about it, then it’s almost easier for me to accept.’
Heaping praise on her mum for spotting the signs that eventually prompted her to take further action, she said: ‘It took for my mum to be like, “They don’t move their legs how they should be moving”.
‘Bless my mum, she’s a worrier, and I just thought my mum was being a worrier – but I noticed they were moving [their legs] less and less and less, until it just stops.
‘That is why it’s so important and vital to get treatment from birth and that it’s detected from birth.’
Opening up on her decision to share her story with the world, Jesy continued: ‘I wanted it to get as much reach as possible to raise awareness about it, it’s what I wanted to do.
‘If I’d seen someone else’s video, maybe, just maybe I could have prevented this from happening if I’d have seen a video and caught it early enough.
‘Yes, I could have dealt with it privately, but at the same time I’m like, I have this platform and I almost feel like I’ve got a duty of care to like raise awareness about it.
‘I don’t know if this is even crazy to say this, like it feels selfish to keep this to myself and not potentially save a child’s life. I’m going to shout to the rooftops about this.
Zion proposed to Jesy during a romantic sunset trip to the beach in September with the singer sharing a close up shot of the sparkling diamond
‘I could have saved their legs… I don’t think I’m ever going to get over this or accept it, but I’m going to try my best to make change.’
It comes after Jesy reportedly split from fiancé Zion Foster, just weeks after revealing their eight-month-old twin daughters had been diagnosed with SMA.
The singer, 34, and rapper, 26, who got engaged in September 2025 after three years together, will remain ‘united as co-parents’ despite ending their romantic relationship.
A source said: ‘She and Zion remain friends and are fully focused on their daughters.’
Before going on to tell The Sun: ‘Their priority continues to be the well-being of their daughters. They are fully united in co-parenting’.
Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Zion shared a self-written poem centred on acceptance as he comes to terms with the day-to-day reality of seeing his daughters with the condition, as well as praising Jesy as a mum.
He read: ‘They said it’s unlikely you’ll walk, you may not be able to talk, probably won’t be able to hold your head up, that’s what me and Jesy heard – SMA Type 1.
‘And it became so clear, doctors only go near what they can measure, so what’s certain?
‘I watch your smiles like sunsets, not promised, but real. I listen to you babble the sweetest melodies, in the moment it makes me wonder, if I keep telling you who I want you to be, what I want you to do, what I expect from you, am I loving you, or am I loving my fear?
‘If I take you for how God knitted you, just as you are, nothing removed, am I loving you? Am I accepting you?’
He added: ‘Story, is your heart okay? Ocean, how’s your mind? I hear strength in your lungs every time you cry, two little warrior girls who already know how to fight.
‘Honestly, my worry isn’t the milestones, isn’t forcing life to live a different way. My worry is quieter than that, deeper. It’s about accepting you, loving you for who you are right now, without conditions.
‘No matter what tomorrow brings, and no matter what yesterday was.’
Captioning the post, he praised Jesy for highlighting England’s lack of birth screening for SMA Type 1.
He wrote: ‘We are all one. Jesy addressing a huge flaw in our healthcare system is the definition of a superwoman.
‘Reality is, it’s indefensible and needs to be changed, simple. Test kids at birth for SMA in the UK now that there are revolutionary treatments available.
‘Thank you to the SMA community and wider community of those living with more unique challenges for accepting us, supporting us and fighting with us.’
