“This teamwork was spectacular,” said Dr. Max Langham, vice chair of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) Department of Surgery and pediatric surgeon at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, during a press conference today announcing the successful surgery separating conjoined twins, Miracle and Testimony at Le Bonheur.
The twins, who are celebrating their first birthday today, are the children of Sam and Mary Ayeni of Kogi State, Nigeria. They were born as ischiopagus twins, which means they were conjoined on the lower half of their bodies. Conjoined twins occur in one in every 200,000 live births. The family was referred to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital from the Linking Hands Foundation and have stayed at the FedExFamilyHouse since their arrival to Memphis in late June.
The surgery, which lasted 18 hours, involved more than 20 surgeons and physicians, many of which are faculty in the UTHSC College of Medicine. A team of more than 100 including physicians, nurses, therapists, and other staff were involved in Miracle and Testimony’s care.
Dr. Langham said what it took to get here was a great surgical team, a supportive hospital and faith.
For more information on this amazing collaborative teamwork of physicians at UTHSC and Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital:
image credit: Le Bonheur