| Family Mourns as Twins Lose Tragic Fight
for Life By Jon Myles
The family of conjoined twins born in Dublin were in mourning this week
after the babies lost their fight for life.
The parents, from near Mullingar in Co. Westmeath, had been keeping a
vigil beside the twins since their birth.
But hope faded on Tuesday when doctors ruled out medical intervention
to separate them.
The twins were born by caesarean section in the National Maternity Hospital
in Holles Street but were moved to the National Children’s Hospital in Crumlin
soon after for specialist evaluation.
They shared a heart and their condition had been described as critical
since their birth.
A team of medical and surgical specialists at Crumlin hospital conducted
intensive tests to establish how closely the twins were joined and whether
they could be separated.
But they finally decided they could not take any action.
The family had known that the twins were conjoined for some months due
to prenatal scans using ultrasound.
The mother had originally been treated at Longford Westmeath General
Hospital in Mullingar but was transferred early in her pregnancy to Dublin
because of the complications involved.
Doctors and nurses at Holles Street and in Crumlin had been expecting
the birth and were fully prepared for it.
The family had previously asked for the public’s prayers and requested
that their privacy be respected.
The parents were said by relatives to be inconsolable over the deaths
of the babies.
They thanked people for their prayers and asked for privacy to grieve.
The news of the twins’ death was received somberly near the family’s
home in Slanemore about five miles from Mullingar.
Locals described the family as sincere and good neighbours. One woman
said: “It’s very sad. They are in heaven now. We are all praying for them.”
The birth of conjoined twins is rare — occurring on average once in every
200,000 births.
Irish twins Niamh and Aoife McDonnell — who were joined at the chest
— were successfully separated 11 weeks after they were born in Manchester
in April 1997.
They now live with their parents in Castlebar in Co. Westmeath.
A year later Eilish Holten from Donadea in Co. Kildare survived a procedure
to separate her from her sister Katie — who died following the operation.
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