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.”
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