As Australia waits to see how conjoined twins Nima
and Dawa Pelden are separated by a complex surgery in Melbourne, thoughts turn
to the last time the Children First Foundation and Melbourne's Royal Children's
Hospital teamed up for a similar operation.
Bangladeshi sisters Trisha and Krishna captured
national attention in 2009, when they underwent a marathon 32-hour surgical
procedure to separate them.
The young girls were born with their skulls and
brain matter fused, and had just a 25 percent chance of survival.
Up to 16 surgeons, led by neurosurgeon Wirginia
Maixner, worked on the "once-in-a-lifetime operation", with the
hospital's then-head of surgery Leo Donnan praising his team for the
extraordinary work.
The girls were almost three-years-old when they
were separated. But almost a decade on, where are they now?
Trishna
And Krishna in 2018
The girls were brought over from a Bangladesh
orphanage by Moira Kelly, the woman who became their legal guardian. (Note: At
the time Kelly was working with the Children First Foundation, but she parted
ways with it in 2013 to focus on her family and other projects.)
They still live with her in Melbourne, and three
years after the surgery, Trisha -- the healthier of the pair -- was starting
school, while Krishna, with extensive physiotherapy, was learning to walk
supported by water.
That same year, 2011, the girls and Kelly also met
Queen Elizabeth II, when she opened the new Royal Children's Hospital.
A few years later, the family grew again when the
twins' birth mother, Lovely Goldar, was reunited with her children, moving to
Australia to be part of their lives in 2013. She and her husband gave birth to
their son, Matthew, the following year.
Although ten daily has been unable to get in
contact with Kelly for this piece (she is travelling oversees), a piece on her
website says that in 2015, the then-seven-year-old girls were "still happy
and thriving".
"Trishna attends school, swimming, dancing
and Kumon lessons, while Krishna is at attending Kinda, swimming, music,
gymbaroo and continues to undergo a variety of weekly allied help therapies to
support her development," the website reads.
Trishna was a big fan of her swimming and dance
lessons, while Krishna was able to attend school a few days a week.
"Krishna also loves her swimming and arts and
craft projects," the website added.
How
will Nima and Dawa's surgery compare?
The surgery to separate Nima and Dawa Pelden won't
be exactly the same as the one used to separate Trishna and Krishna -- as lead
paediatric surgeon Dr. Joe Crameri said earlier this week, no two pairs of
conjoined twins identical in the "way they are connected".
As Trishna and Krishna were connected via the
skull and brain, a team of neurosurgeons were largely the ones doing the
operating; for Nima and Dima, who are connected via the lower abdomen, it's
likely to be surgical paediatricains.
But the team will be relying on learnings gained
from that surgery, particularly with intensive care specialists and
anaesthetists.
"I'm a bit anxious, but I'm excited at the
opportunity [to operate]," said Crameri on Tuesday.
"These things don't happen for us very often,
and it is a way for us to test our skills and our training.
"Like everybody, we just want to facilitate a
good outcome for these twins, and we just want them to be able to go home and
live a normal life within the environment they've grown up in."
0 comments:
Post a Comment