Nigerian Doctors at the Federal Medical Center, Keffi Nasarawa state have separated Siamese Twins born in their hospital.
The surgery was led by surgeon Emmanuel Ameh. He told BBC that the operation to separate Goodness and Mercy Martins at the chest and abdomen took place in November and the two sisters were now well enough to go home.
Their unemployed mother had no idea she was expecting twins and she was even more shocked when they came out joined at the chest and abdomen.
He said the operation was complicated but they were able to separate the twins. The operation cost about $55,000 but the medics at National Hospital Abuja did not charge for their work because the twins’ parents Michael Edeh and Maria Onya Martins could not afford the medical bills because of the nature of their work. He added that the father of victims is a painter.
In an interview, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, attributed the successful outcome of the surgery to the teamwork and administrative support the experts at the hospital received.
He said: “These beautiful girls of Benue State origin and their proud parents, are beneficiaries of a healthcare system, when it functions as it supposed to.
“The case management team has demonstrated that our health system, even with modest resources, can rise up to the highest challenges and offer quality care, to find its position among renowned international hospitals.”
The twins were operated by four operations by a team of experts including paediatricians, neurologists, anesthesiologists, plastic surgeons, radiologists and others who spent 16 months treating them until they were well enough for the surgery to separate them.
“This is an extremely rare condition. The biggest challenge we faced had to do with their separation at the chest region. This is really the first time that twins joined in the chest and the abdomen are separated throughout the entire country. All the other separated twins are joined only in one organ,” one of the doctors exclaimed.
The parents of the twins have expressed their joy for the health of their kids. The health Minister has also thanked the doctors for a good work done.
