Separated conjoined twins back in Cameroon

“Marvellous!” “I am very happy”. “God is good”. These were some of the phrases on the lips of everybody on November, 16, 2015 at the Chantal Biya Foundation when the Ministers of Public Health and Social Affairs alongside the Tunisian Ambassador to Cameroon, Jalel Snoussi entered the special ward to see the former conjoined twins; Darly and Davis who just returned from Tunisia after a successful surgery to separate them.

While smiling, authorities took turns to carry Darly and Davis as they cried for the attention of their father and nurses who accompanied them to Tunisia.

The children, who used to be joint at the abdomen, can be seen fully separated and in good health thanks to the collaboration of Cameroon’s First Lady, Mrs Chantal Biya, the government of Cameroon as well as that of Tunisia that undertook the surgery free of charge. The father of Darly and Davis expressed gratitude to the government, particularly to the First Lady and her foundation for the enormous support and care.

While talking to the press, the Director of the Mother and Child Centre at the Chantal Biya Foundation, Professor Paul Koki Ndombo said the babies who travelled to Tunisia on September 9, 2015 underwent a complex surgery that took eight hours.

From the medical report presented by the Tunisian team that undertook the surgery, Pr Koki said they started by separating the skin of the babies from the sternum (anterior chest bone) to the umbilicus. During the separation, it was discovered that the livers of the babies were joined. The surgeon had to carefully separate both livers while ensuring that there is no bleeding at the end.

Later, the Tunisian surgeons discovered that the babies had a common envelope that covered both hearts. While realising that they have two hearts with same periphery cover, the surgeons had to separate both hearts and re-do a cover for each heart without any problem. The surgeons later had to fix the chest bone.

Pr Koki said however, the surgeons could not completely close the abdomen but did something that was interesting. They replaced the abdominal muscle wall with an inner plate. This allowed for the abdominal muscle wall to grow and later when it was strong enough, the plate was removed after one and a half month.

Pr Koki said right now everything is good and by God’s grace, the babies are fine. While in Cameroon, the babies will be followed-up like any other person who undergoes a complex surgery. Today, Daryl and Davis are one year, four months old.