Conjoined twins born to jobless Abuja couple

What should have been a moment of
joy for a jobless couple, Mr. Elisha
Bassey and his wife, Patience, turned
to sadness when a set of conjoined
twins was born to the family on
Tuesday.
The 32-year-old resident of the Federal
Capital Teritory, Abuja, who is from Itu
Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom
State, and his 30-year-old wife, are
currently at a loss.
The conjoined twins were delivered at
about 7 pm on July 2, 3013 at LUNA
Hospital in Gwarinpa, Abuja.
Bassey said, "The babies are joined
from the stomach and chest down.
They have three legs joined together,
one liver, one kidney and one
intestine."
Ironically, the scan that was conducted
didn't reveal that it was conjoined
twins.
When our correspondent visited the
hospital on Friday evening, the issue
was being discussed in hushed tones.
Bassey told Saturday PUNCH that his
wife was still in the hospital but not
fully recovered.
He said, "The scan was done but we
were not informed that it was
conjoined twins. When we were told
that the babies were twins, we were all
happy. For now, my wife is still in the
hospital, although not fully recovered.
But she is responding to treatment."
Bassey's hopes were dashed when the
management of the National Hospital
told him that they had done their best
but there was no hope that they could
do the separation.
He said, "The doctors at the National
Hospital said they have tried their
best, including scanning and everything
they could do within their power.
"They said there was nothing else they
could do in that unit. But they told me
that if I have anywhere in the world
where the babies could be separated,
they would assist and send an e-mail
and refer the babies to that place.
"At what cost? For now, they have not
told me but they said they could not
do the separation here and would not
know where they could transfer the
babies," Bassey stated.
When contacted, the spokesperson for
the National Hospital, Dr. Tayo
Haastrup, told Saturday PUNCH that
series of procedures had been done on
the babies' state of health.
He said, "The babies were not
delivered in the National Hospital.
They were delivered through a
Caesarean section in a hospital
somewhere in Gwarinpa; they are fine
and their mother is still in the hospital,
where she delivered the children. But
the babies are now in our Special Care
Babies Unit."
When asked if any surgery had been
done to separate conjoined babies,
Haastrup replied in the negative.
He said, "Surgical operation is not the
issue for now; but we have carried out
some tests and other things to find out
their state of health. They are lying
now well in SCBU as I am speaking to
you."