Twin Success

Conjoined twin girls connected at the head have been successfully separated after 29 hours of surgery. The three-year-olds, whose mother died giving birth to them in Bangladesh, were operated on in Melbourne, Australia by 16 surgeons. The team said the procedure was successful, but it was not without difficulties, having taken 13 hours longer than anticipated. Head surgeon Leo Donnan said although there was “still a long way to go” and “very difficult times ahead” that it was a historic moment for the hospital and an even more historic moment for the children. “The twins had come to the attention of a Melbourne-based organisation, Children First Foundation, which arranged for them to be flown to Australia for an operation that could give them a new start in life – if successful. After weeks of careful planning, studying X-rays and monitoring the children’s daily health and behaviour, the medical teams arranged their working hours, fully aware that the task ahead would not be easy,” reports The Daily Mail.