Jadon and Anias McDonald, twins conjoined at the crown of their heads from birth were pictured looking at each other for the first time, since after a successful 27-hour surgery to separate them.
The 14-months-old brothers were on October 13, 2016, successfully separated during a grueling, life-threatening 27-hour operation, which took place at the Montefiore Hospital, in New York.
A month after the operation, as they make a historically rapid recovery, they duo were pictured staring open-mouthed at each other. Before now, Jadon and Anias shared every second of their lives together, until last month when they were separated.
The pair will be moved to a rehab facility shortly after Thanksgiving. Anias, who was already struggling before the operation, is having more difficulties recovering due to regular seizure, contracting viruses and infections, but their surgeon, Dr Philip Goodrich, said he believes Anias will pull through, and he thinks Jadon is a great force of energy for him at this time. ‘Separating the two is probably not a good idea at this point,’ Dr. Goodrich told CNN,
Jadon and Anias’ recovery marks the fastest recovery for separation of craniopagus twins; (twins conjoined at the head) in history, beating the previous record of eight weeks, the doctors said. Jadon is already ready to move, as he is now vibrant, active, and energetic, pulling at his bandages and playing with anyone who enters the ward.
The boys were born via cesarean section last September near Chicago, Illinois.Their parents Nicole and Christian insisted her boys were perfect as they were. But in order to let them lead normal lives, they travelled to Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx, New York, to have one of the world’s most esteemed surgeons perform the incredibly rare operation to separate their heads. The operation costs $2.5million.
Anias and Jadon, have a three-year-old brother Aza. The pair was technically called ‘craniopagus twins’ – a phenomenon that occurs just once in every 2.5million births in United States. Based on national statistics, it is astonishing the lucky twins made it to 13 months. Around 40 percent of craniopagus twins are stillborn. Of those that survive, a third, die within 24 hours of birth. Again,if craniopagus twins survive that point, there is still an 80 percent risk they will die before the age of two if they are not separated.
However, separation meant one or both of the twins could suffer developmental complications and Anias was already showing one of the signs, but the doctors who warned that Anias’s case might happen owing to the fact that he suffered breathing issues, seizures and heart problems even before the surgery, have successfully put him on medication that eventually stopped the attacks last month.
More pictures of the beautiful twins before and after surgery, below…
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