Asia-Pacific

Once-conjoined twins leave hospital on birthday eve

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-22 08:35

MELBOURNE: Formerly conjoined twin sisters Trishna and Krishna were discharged from an Australian hospital yesterday, five weeks after their separation surgery and just in time to celebrate their third birthday.

Once-conjoined twins leave hospital on birthday eve

Doctors said the Bangladeshi-born girls had made amazing progress since the Nov. 17 surgery and were already using walkers to move around the hospital. The girls had been joined at the top of their heads and shared brain tissue and blood vessels before their separation in a 30-hour operation.

"I look forward to seeing them live a long and happy life; that's my wish for them," neurosurgeon Wirginia Maixner said in a statement released by the Royal Children's Hospital.

They will spend their birthday today at home in Melbourne with their legal guardian, Moira Kelly.

The girls will continue to receive care as outpatients at the hospital.

In the statement, Kelly expressed her gratitude to the doctors and staff.

"They have given these two little girls a new life. I can't wait to take them home," she said.

An aid worker first saw Trishna and Krishna in an orphanage in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, when they were a month old. The aid worker contacted the Children First Foundation, which brought the girls to Australia for the operation.