New photos show the progress made by conjoined twins Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata, who were separated four years ago at a Texas hospital.
They were separated 18 hours into their surgery, which included 12 surgeons, eight nurses, and other medical workers.
The twins shared the chest wall, lungs, pericardial sac (the lining of the heart), diaphragm, liver, intestines, colon, and pelvis, the hospital said.
The girls, now 5 years old, recently marked a major milestone.
According to Texas Children’s Hospital, “Both girls are doing extremely well and continue to thrive at home where they live with their parents, Eric and Elysse, older brother, Azariah, and younger sister, Mia. The family is very excited to see the girls sharing this special milestone together … The twins will attend full-day pre-k every weekday … Their mother, Elysse Mata, reports that the girls love their teachers and especially love recess. They’re also looking forward to start taking the bus to school starting next week.”
A year after the surgery, their parents spoke out about it.
“It’s surreal,” said John Eric Mata, the father of the girls. “For me, they’ve far exceeded expectations.”
At the time, officials said the girls undergo physical, occupational, and speech therapy twice a week.
Twins Joined at Head Separated
A pair of Pakistani sisters who were conjoined at the head were separated after 50 hours of surgeries, it was reported.The girls’ mother, Zainab Bibi, 34, told the paper: “We are indebted to the hospital and to the staff and we would like to thank them for everything they have done.”
She continued that the family is “extremely excited about the future.”
The hospital had to use virtual reality to create a replica of the girls’ anatomies and heads to visualize the structure of their skulls along with their blood vessels, the paper reported. They also used 3D printing to come up with plastic models of the girls’ heads for practice.
The surgeries were paid for by a private donor, the report noted. The Guardian also reported that one of the twins had a stroke during the surgery.