Formerly Conjoined, the Miracle Endures
September 13, 2014 Opinion & Analysis
Sydney Kawadza
Zimbabwe Herald
IN less than two weeks, the Murehwa twins who were successfully separated at the Harare Central Hospital will be turning five months.
Two months ago, their parents David and Agnes Chitiyo were in desperation, having sleepless nights as they tried to figure out what fate had befallen their young family but today, their joy is inexplicable.
And all they want is for President Mugabe to honour his promise to give the twin boys their second names.
The twins, Kupakwashe and Tapuwanashe, were born at Murehwa District Hospital in April and were joined from the lower chest to the upper abdomen while sharing the same liver.
A team of surgeons, doctors, anestheticians, nurses and other hospital staff at Harare broke new ground when they successfully separated the twins in a delicate eight hour procedure.
The most delicate part of the operation was on the liver, which had to be cut in half for each child to have his own piece. The liver, in ones so young, can grow to normal size after being cut.
The operation, described by many as a miracle, captured the headlines, not only in Zimbabwe but the world over.
The babies have since been discharged from hospital and are recuperating at their maternal grandparents’ home in the sprawling suburb of Highfield.
“We were discharged from hospital three weeks ago and we take them to hospital every Tuesday for dressing because their wounds are still fresh.
“We are also waiting for President Mugabe to give the twins their second names,” said a beaming Agnes Chitiyo, the boys’ mother, during an interview at her parents’ home in Highfield.
With the bubbling twins cooing incessantly as both mother and grandmother took turns to cuddle the “miracle” babes, an atmosphere of joy and relief engulfs the home where the twins are still being separated from other people.
“Their wounds are still fresh and risks of infection are still high so we try by all means to protect them but at the moment we can sit outside in the shade when it becomes too hot in the house,” the proud mother said.
She said the children were very healthy and feed like all normal babies.
“When the babies were born we were in shock and not sure if they would survive but at the moment we even have moments when we forget that the children were once conjoined. We can really express our joy for the miracle that has now become part of our lives,” she said.
The family also has fond memories of the day President Mugabe and the First Lady visited the twins after the successful operation.
“We did not believe the news when the nurses told us that President Mugabe and Amai would be visiting us that day. I was happy to meet the First Family because it was never in my imagination that I would meet them.
“We also got a lot of help from President Mugabe and Amai Mugabe who gave us clothes, milk formula and other foodstuffs for the twins. Up to now all that we are giving the children came from them,” she said.
She also paid tribute to the medical staff at Harare Central Hospital for the successful operation.
“There are also a number of individuals who have supported us since the children were born,” she said.
The family has received assistance from the Zimbabwe Nurses Association, Seventh Day Adventist Church Budiriro 1 and 2 branches, Mashonaland East Presidential Affairs Minister Simbaneuta Mudarikwa, Murehwa Rural District Council chief executive Gurajena and many others.
The children’s maternal grandmother Mrs Chipo Phiri is a relieved woman.
“When we heard that my daughter had given birth to the twins I sent her sister to check on her.
“The news that the children were conjoined shocked me but I just left everything in the hands of God and even my own mother advised me to leave everything to God.
“On the day the children were successfully operated on and separated it was testimony that the Hand of God was on our family especially the twins,” she said.
Mrs Phiri said while they have sleepless nights looking after the children, the headaches were all for joy.
“The children feed a lot and we know that their time for feeding has come and that is positive. It shows that the children are reacting positively to medication and are recovering well,” she said.
Her husband Robson Mongoro said the staff at Harare Hospital should be blessed and be successful in all their endeavours.
“The people at the hospital did wonders and we are happy that the children are recovering well at home,” he said.
However, Mr Chitiyo said the family still needed decent accommodation and investment so that they can look after the twins and their two older siblings.
“We have four children but I rent a single room in Murehwa. The money I make selling vegetables is not enough. My expenses outweigh my income and at the moment we are lucky that the goods we received from President Mugabe are still available for the children,” said Chitiyo who is a trained cook.
The vegetable vendor appealed for assistance to start a catering business.
“Our business is still small and we need to start a business so that we can cater for the children now and in the future. I am however, afraid that if I do not get a job or at least open up a business that has high returns the future of the children could be bleak,” he said.
The couple had known since conception that they would be blessed with twins but were surprised when the boys were conjoined. Conjoined twins result from either fusion, in which the fertilized egg splits partially; or fusion, in which a fertilized egg completely separate but the stem cells search for similar cells on the other embryo and fuse the twins.
So rare are conjoined twins that their occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50 000 birth to 1 in 200 000 in the world.
The overall survival rate for the conjoined twins is approximately one in four.
The only known local operation of conjoined twin was a “very minor” one successfully done at the same hospital in the 1980s. Zimbabwe has had five documented cases of conjoined twins since independence in 1980 and only one was referred out of the country while in two instances the babies died before surgery.
sydney.kawadza@zimpapers.co.zw
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| Zimbabwe mother and grandmother hold twins recently separated. |
Sydney Kawadza
Zimbabwe Herald
IN less than two weeks, the Murehwa twins who were successfully separated at the Harare Central Hospital will be turning five months.
Two months ago, their parents David and Agnes Chitiyo were in desperation, having sleepless nights as they tried to figure out what fate had befallen their young family but today, their joy is inexplicable.
And all they want is for President Mugabe to honour his promise to give the twin boys their second names.
The twins, Kupakwashe and Tapuwanashe, were born at Murehwa District Hospital in April and were joined from the lower chest to the upper abdomen while sharing the same liver.
A team of surgeons, doctors, anestheticians, nurses and other hospital staff at Harare broke new ground when they successfully separated the twins in a delicate eight hour procedure.
The most delicate part of the operation was on the liver, which had to be cut in half for each child to have his own piece. The liver, in ones so young, can grow to normal size after being cut.
The operation, described by many as a miracle, captured the headlines, not only in Zimbabwe but the world over.
The babies have since been discharged from hospital and are recuperating at their maternal grandparents’ home in the sprawling suburb of Highfield.
“We were discharged from hospital three weeks ago and we take them to hospital every Tuesday for dressing because their wounds are still fresh.
“We are also waiting for President Mugabe to give the twins their second names,” said a beaming Agnes Chitiyo, the boys’ mother, during an interview at her parents’ home in Highfield.
With the bubbling twins cooing incessantly as both mother and grandmother took turns to cuddle the “miracle” babes, an atmosphere of joy and relief engulfs the home where the twins are still being separated from other people.
“Their wounds are still fresh and risks of infection are still high so we try by all means to protect them but at the moment we can sit outside in the shade when it becomes too hot in the house,” the proud mother said.
She said the children were very healthy and feed like all normal babies.
“When the babies were born we were in shock and not sure if they would survive but at the moment we even have moments when we forget that the children were once conjoined. We can really express our joy for the miracle that has now become part of our lives,” she said.
The family also has fond memories of the day President Mugabe and the First Lady visited the twins after the successful operation.
“We did not believe the news when the nurses told us that President Mugabe and Amai would be visiting us that day. I was happy to meet the First Family because it was never in my imagination that I would meet them.
“We also got a lot of help from President Mugabe and Amai Mugabe who gave us clothes, milk formula and other foodstuffs for the twins. Up to now all that we are giving the children came from them,” she said.
She also paid tribute to the medical staff at Harare Central Hospital for the successful operation.
“There are also a number of individuals who have supported us since the children were born,” she said.
The family has received assistance from the Zimbabwe Nurses Association, Seventh Day Adventist Church Budiriro 1 and 2 branches, Mashonaland East Presidential Affairs Minister Simbaneuta Mudarikwa, Murehwa Rural District Council chief executive Gurajena and many others.
The children’s maternal grandmother Mrs Chipo Phiri is a relieved woman.
“When we heard that my daughter had given birth to the twins I sent her sister to check on her.
“The news that the children were conjoined shocked me but I just left everything in the hands of God and even my own mother advised me to leave everything to God.
“On the day the children were successfully operated on and separated it was testimony that the Hand of God was on our family especially the twins,” she said.
Mrs Phiri said while they have sleepless nights looking after the children, the headaches were all for joy.
“The children feed a lot and we know that their time for feeding has come and that is positive. It shows that the children are reacting positively to medication and are recovering well,” she said.
Her husband Robson Mongoro said the staff at Harare Hospital should be blessed and be successful in all their endeavours.
“The people at the hospital did wonders and we are happy that the children are recovering well at home,” he said.
However, Mr Chitiyo said the family still needed decent accommodation and investment so that they can look after the twins and their two older siblings.
“We have four children but I rent a single room in Murehwa. The money I make selling vegetables is not enough. My expenses outweigh my income and at the moment we are lucky that the goods we received from President Mugabe are still available for the children,” said Chitiyo who is a trained cook.
The vegetable vendor appealed for assistance to start a catering business.
“Our business is still small and we need to start a business so that we can cater for the children now and in the future. I am however, afraid that if I do not get a job or at least open up a business that has high returns the future of the children could be bleak,” he said.
The couple had known since conception that they would be blessed with twins but were surprised when the boys were conjoined. Conjoined twins result from either fusion, in which the fertilized egg splits partially; or fusion, in which a fertilized egg completely separate but the stem cells search for similar cells on the other embryo and fuse the twins.
So rare are conjoined twins that their occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 50 000 birth to 1 in 200 000 in the world.
The overall survival rate for the conjoined twins is approximately one in four.
The only known local operation of conjoined twin was a “very minor” one successfully done at the same hospital in the 1980s. Zimbabwe has had five documented cases of conjoined twins since independence in 1980 and only one was referred out of the country while in two instances the babies died before surgery.
sydney.kawadza@zimpapers.co.zw
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