News / National
Conjoined Zimbabwean twins saved in Canada
05 Feb 2011 at 14:18hrs | Views
It took a team of 25 Canadian doctors and nurses about five hours to carry out a successful surgery on conjoined twins Tinashe and Tinotenda Mufuka, who were flown to Canada from Zimbabwe in 2005 for the specialized operation.
Their story captivated the country as the two boys, joined at the liver, were flown from their rural community to spend a year at Sick Kids in Toronto with their mother Elizabeth and a local nurse.
QMI Agency found the twins, now six-years-old, walking home on the red, winding dirt road from their Nyachuru primary school on the grounds of the Salvation Army's Howard Hospital situated in the Chiweshe communal land of Zimbabwe.
It's about a 3-km walk to and from school and they walk unsupervised with masses of young children en route to rural villages.
Their mother, Elizabeth, who lives with the boys in a traditional Zimbabwean brick hut without running water or electricity, said the boys are healthy and happy. They enjoy their schoolwork and playing soccer with their friends, she said.
Dr. Paul Thistle, a Toronto native and chief medical officer at Howard, performed the ultrasound on Elizabeth that discovered the conjoined twins in 2005.
"I remember seeing something you don't usually see," Thistle recalled.
Dr. Rachel Spitzer, a Toronto obstetrician serving there for three months as a volunteer through the Canadian Jewish humanitarian group Ve'ahavta, delivered Tinashe and Tinotenda at Howard Hospital in July 2005.
Thistle alerted the Salvation Army in Canada to the birth of the twins and their need for help.
The Salvation Army partnered with Ve'ahavta to cover the cost of flights and provide practical support to the family during its stay in Toronto.
The twins, now two good looking young boys, also underwent surgery in Toronto for cleft lips and palates.
The medical team performing the separation included two general surgeons, two plastic surgeons, two anesthetists, eight nurses and a number of surgical and anesthesia residents.
Their story captivated the country as the two boys, joined at the liver, were flown from their rural community to spend a year at Sick Kids in Toronto with their mother Elizabeth and a local nurse.
QMI Agency found the twins, now six-years-old, walking home on the red, winding dirt road from their Nyachuru primary school on the grounds of the Salvation Army's Howard Hospital situated in the Chiweshe communal land of Zimbabwe.
It's about a 3-km walk to and from school and they walk unsupervised with masses of young children en route to rural villages.
Their mother, Elizabeth, who lives with the boys in a traditional Zimbabwean brick hut without running water or electricity, said the boys are healthy and happy. They enjoy their schoolwork and playing soccer with their friends, she said.
Dr. Paul Thistle, a Toronto native and chief medical officer at Howard, performed the ultrasound on Elizabeth that discovered the conjoined twins in 2005.
"I remember seeing something you don't usually see," Thistle recalled.
Dr. Rachel Spitzer, a Toronto obstetrician serving there for three months as a volunteer through the Canadian Jewish humanitarian group Ve'ahavta, delivered Tinashe and Tinotenda at Howard Hospital in July 2005.
Thistle alerted the Salvation Army in Canada to the birth of the twins and their need for help.
The Salvation Army partnered with Ve'ahavta to cover the cost of flights and provide practical support to the family during its stay in Toronto.
The twins, now two good looking young boys, also underwent surgery in Toronto for cleft lips and palates.
The medical team performing the separation included two general surgeons, two plastic surgeons, two anesthetists, eight nurses and a number of surgical and anesthesia residents.
Source - Toronto Sun
