Cameroon: Conjoined twins separated in Turkey

By Boris Esono Nwenfor [caption id="attachment_90503" align="alignnone" width="640"] Parents Carolina and Richard with their separated daughters at the Acibadem Altunizade Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey[/caption] In an operation carried out in Turkey, conjoined Cameroonian twins Mary and Elizabeth Akwe have successful been separated this November 2, at the Acibadem Altunizade Hospital in Istanbul, a statement from the hospital said. They were brought to Turkey when they were nine months old and after months of research and preparations, the babies were separated in an operation that was planned on a 3D model, Reuters reported. The twins were separated as a result of a 27-hours long operation that involved specialists and medical personnel such as Burak Tander, Memet Özek, Hakan Ağır, Serpil Ustalar Özgen, and Agop Çıtak, Acıbadem Altunizade, a statement from the hospital indicated. “I was very happy, for seeing Elizabeth and Mary being separated and well without any complications,” Carolina Akwe, mother of the twins said after the successful operation. She went on to indicate that though it has been difficult, she persevered in breastfeeding her daughters for a year and that her family did not lose hope that they will be successfully separated. After the operation, the twins’ father Richard Akwe spoke of the pains the children suffered due to their condition and their inability to move freely, indicating that they constantly cried while being breastfed. He added that he wants his daughters to become doctors so they could treat children in Cameroon who needed medical attention.