Jadon and Anias McDonald, twins conjoined at the crown of their heads
from birth were pictured looking at each other for the first time, since
after a successful 27-hour surgery to separate them.
The 14-months-old brothers were on October 13, 2016, successfully
separated during a grueling, life-threatening 27-hour operation, which
took place at the Montefiore Hospital, in New York.
A month after the operation, as they make a historically rapid recovery,
they duo were pictured staring open-mouthed at each other. Before now,
Jadon and Anias shared every second of their lives together, until last
month when they were separated.
The pair will be moved to a rehab facility shortly after Thanksgiving.
Anias, who was already struggling before the operation, is having more
difficulties recovering due to regular seizure, contracting viruses and
infections, but their surgeon, Dr Philip Goodrich, said he believes
Anias will pull through, and he thinks Jadon is a great force of energy
for him at this time. 'Separating the two is probably not a good idea at
this point,' Dr. Goodrich told CNN,
Jadon and Anias' recovery marks the fastest recovery for separation of
craniopagus twins; (twins conjoined at the head) in history, beating the
previous record of eight weeks, the doctors said. Jadon is already
ready to move, as he is now vibrant, active, and energetic, pulling at
his bandages and playing with anyone who enters the ward.
The boys were born via cesarean section last September near Chicago,
Illinois.Their parents Nicole and Christian insisted her boys were
perfect as they were. But in order to let them lead normal lives, they
travelled to Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, New York, to have one of
the world's most esteemed surgeons perform the incredibly rare operation
to separate their heads. The operation costs $2.5million.
Anias and Jadon, have a three-year-old brother Aza. The pair was
technically called 'craniopagus twins' - a phenomenon that occurs just
once in every 2.5million births in United States. Based on national
statistics, it is astonishing the lucky twins made it to 13 months.
Around 40 percent of craniopagus twins are stillborn. Of those that
survive, a third, die within 24 hours of birth. Again,if craniopagus
twins survive that point, there is still an 80 percent risk they will
die before the age of two if they are not separated.
However, separation meant one or both of the twins could suffer
developmental complications and Anias was already showing one of the
signs, but the doctors who warned that Anias’s case might happen owing
to the fact that he suffered breathing issues, seizures and heart
problems even before the surgery, have successfully put him on
medication that eventually stopped the attacks last month.
More pictures of the beautiful twins before and after surgery, below...
Source: DailyMail
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