News / National
From Siamese twins to one bundle of bliss
24 Apr 2016 at 11:53hrs | Views
Zimbabwe celebrated a landmark surgical achievement in April 2014 when a team of health professionals led by Mr Bothwell Mbuvayesango successfully conducted an operation to separate Siamese twins Tapiwanashe and Kupakwashe Chitiyo at Harare Central Hospital.
The twins, who hail from one of Harare's oldest suburbs, Highfield, turned two last week, and their birthday served as another reminder to their parents of how precious life is.
The Sunday Mail visited their home in Western Triangle, Highfield in the wake of this familial bliss, and oh, what happiness!
There was joy all around, palpable jubilation.
One could not miss the spurts of infectious laughter that Mrs Agnes Chitiyo let out as she related the story of her boys' eventful two years on Earth.
"I am grateful to Almighty God for blessing us with such a rare gift. When I gave birth to them, conjoined as they were, I never imagined they would survive until now," she said, her voice taking a more serious tone.
"If it hadn't been for the fact that I'm struggling financially, I would've loved to hold a huge party for my twin boys. It would have given me great joy to see them being surrounded by other children, merry-making."
The twins were conjoined from the lower chest to the upper abdomen and shared the same liver.
They were delivered through Caesarian section at Murehwa District Hospital and were later transferred to Harare where a team of at least 50 health professionals joined forces to separate them.
Their parents did not know whether they would survive.
But after eight hours of surgery, Mr Mbuvayesango and Co. emerged to tell them the good news.
A star shone brightly over Harare Central Hospital, bidding multitudes to harken to this miracle.
President Mugabe and First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe went to see the newborns and the team that helped them survive.
The twins' name speak of thanksgiving to the Lord.
"The twins' scars haven't completely healed yet, and we are still expected to give them some medication. This wound management is expensive for us since we are supposed to apply new treatment every day," said Mrs Chitiyo.
"When push comes to shove, I just wash the used bandage and reuse it, though this isn't recommended for fear of infecting the children. But what is a mother to do when my only hope is to see my children completely healed?"
Siamese twins result from either fission where a fertilised egg splits partially, or fusion in which a fertilised egg completely separates, but stem cells search for similar cells on the other embryo and fuse the twins.
Their occurrence is estimated to range from one in 50 000 births to one in 200 000 births globally.
They are known as "Siamese twins" after the famous pair of Chang and Eng Bunker from Siam, now Thailand.
The only known local operation on Siamese twins was a "very minor" one successfully done at Harare Central Hospital in the 1980s.
Zimbabwe has had five documented cases of conjoined twins since independence and only one was referred outside the country, while in two instances, the babies died before surgery.
The twins, who hail from one of Harare's oldest suburbs, Highfield, turned two last week, and their birthday served as another reminder to their parents of how precious life is.
The Sunday Mail visited their home in Western Triangle, Highfield in the wake of this familial bliss, and oh, what happiness!
There was joy all around, palpable jubilation.
One could not miss the spurts of infectious laughter that Mrs Agnes Chitiyo let out as she related the story of her boys' eventful two years on Earth.
"I am grateful to Almighty God for blessing us with such a rare gift. When I gave birth to them, conjoined as they were, I never imagined they would survive until now," she said, her voice taking a more serious tone.
"If it hadn't been for the fact that I'm struggling financially, I would've loved to hold a huge party for my twin boys. It would have given me great joy to see them being surrounded by other children, merry-making."
The twins were conjoined from the lower chest to the upper abdomen and shared the same liver.
They were delivered through Caesarian section at Murehwa District Hospital and were later transferred to Harare where a team of at least 50 health professionals joined forces to separate them.
Their parents did not know whether they would survive.
But after eight hours of surgery, Mr Mbuvayesango and Co. emerged to tell them the good news.
A star shone brightly over Harare Central Hospital, bidding multitudes to harken to this miracle.
President Mugabe and First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe went to see the newborns and the team that helped them survive.
The twins' name speak of thanksgiving to the Lord.
"The twins' scars haven't completely healed yet, and we are still expected to give them some medication. This wound management is expensive for us since we are supposed to apply new treatment every day," said Mrs Chitiyo.
"When push comes to shove, I just wash the used bandage and reuse it, though this isn't recommended for fear of infecting the children. But what is a mother to do when my only hope is to see my children completely healed?"
Siamese twins result from either fission where a fertilised egg splits partially, or fusion in which a fertilised egg completely separates, but stem cells search for similar cells on the other embryo and fuse the twins.
Their occurrence is estimated to range from one in 50 000 births to one in 200 000 births globally.
They are known as "Siamese twins" after the famous pair of Chang and Eng Bunker from Siam, now Thailand.
The only known local operation on Siamese twins was a "very minor" one successfully done at Harare Central Hospital in the 1980s.
Zimbabwe has had five documented cases of conjoined twins since independence and only one was referred outside the country, while in two instances, the babies died before surgery.
Source - sundaymail
