Photos of painstaking 23-hour surgery that saved conjoined twins admitted at KNH for 2 years

Babies Blessing and Favour were transferred from Kiirua Mission Hospital in Meru County to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) on 5th September 2014, only a day after they were born.
 
They were admitted in the Neonatal Specialized Ward at KNH where physical examination showed that the twins were joined at the sacral region of the spinal cord.
It was nightmare for the twins’ mother, a 28 year old single parent Caroline Mukiri, who pitched camp at KNH for 2 years as doctors observed her babies to see how their key organs developed to enable them gain appropriate muscles to withstand the surgery.
 
The long awaited surgery was finally conducted on 1st November 2016; a team of over 50 medical specialists including paediatric surgeons, neurosurgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, anesthetists and nursing teams, were actively involved in the delicate medical procedure that separated the twins.
The team commenced the surgery on Tuesday 1st November 2016 at 6.00am and successfully completed the operation on Wednesday 2nd November at 5:00am; 23 hours later.
 
Babies Blessing and Favour are currently admitted in the ICU; they are in a stable condition as they receiving specialized care. Doctors are confident they will fully recovery and live normal independent lives to adulthood.
 

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Baba Ghafla