The story of June and Jennifer Gibbons is such a wildly interesting one. How do you reconcile two girls vowing not to speak to anybody till death? It is mind-boggling. The duo held this vow till Jennifer died of undiagnosed myocarditis. Where is June Gibbons now? For almost all their life, the pair decided to only communicate with each other in a language that was hardly recognized by their parents and the people around them. Finally, it got so bad that a speech pychologist was needed to understand the language. It was a mixture of English and Balkan spoken at a very fast-paced. However, no one could understand them except the twins themselves.
They were born in Yemen in the 1960s due to their father’s constant movement by being in the Royal Society of England. The girls were originally from Barbados before their family moved to England. While in England, they suffered a lot of abuse in school as they were the only black people in that area. This abuse further reinforced the twins’ belief not to talk to anyone. They refused to interact with their teachers and colleagues and even refused to write and read. It became a challenge for their teachers.
So, the twins had to change schools several times. One of the psychologists who examined them concluded that the twins used eyes to communicate with Jennifer, usually the authoritative one. Not once did they communicate with their parents and their three other siblings. It must have been difficult for the other members of the family.
Where is June Gibbons Now?
Before Jenifer’s death, the twins were separated to see if they would build an independent life. Every time that happened, the twins developed sickness and became even more withdrawn till they saw each other again. But, of course, the twins’ lives weren’t all that love; they have had near-death fights. One time, Jennifer tried to strangle June with a cord, and another time June tried to drown her twin sister. So, there was a lot of chaos between the twins. They also were notorious for arson and burglary and were arrested multiple times. Finally, the court sent them to Broadmoor, where they were incarcerated. At Broadmoor, they were inundated with psychotic drugs, which somehow found a way to affect them.
In an interview about the girls, Marjorie Wallace told NPR that the girls decided that for one of them to live, one had to die. So, true to their words, on the morning of their release after twelve years at Broadmoor, Jennifer laid her head on June’s shoulder and slipped into a coma. She would die twelve hours later in 1993. The cause of death, according to the doctors, was inflammation, not the heart. As a result, June has had to live all by herself and gradually slipped into society.
Twelve Years of Hell At Broadmoor
In an interview June granted the New Yorker, she described their twelve years stay in Broadmoor as hell. At some point, the girls were tired of not being able to speak with anyone other than themselves. So, they prayed to God to help them communicate with their loved ones. It didn’t work. The girls would later resort to writing stories and filling up their diaries with the day’s activities. So why were they sent to Broadmoor in the first place? Well, they were pretty thieves and burgled homes.
You can also read about Teak’s childhood story here
“We got twelve years of hell, because we didn’t speak. We had to work hard to get out, and we went to the doctor, ‘Look, they wanted us to talk; we’re talking now.’ He said, ‘You’re not getting out. You’re going to be here for thirty years.’ We lost hope, really,” June said in an interview.
Where is June Gibbons now? After Jennifer’s death, June has had to integrate into society. It was tough initially, but she is getting wind of the whole thing.
Conclusion
Where is June Gibbons now? She lives in London with her family. She does not want to be in the spotlight, so she has decided to go low. However, June has had interviews and consulted for a film, The Silent Twins, about her and her sister, with the Black Panther star, Letitia Wright, to play one of the twins.
