Miracle twins
Dawa & Nima separated at last
With their tiny hands intertwined, Bhutanese sisters Dawa and Nima are gently tugging at each other’s hair, laughing, clapping and already eating solids as they come to terms with the enormity of no longer being conjoined.
They’re now separate but nothing can keep these miracle twins apart! Just hours after groundbreaking separation surgery at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, the feisty 15-month-olds were determined to stay close.
With the twins desperately missing each other, doctors made the unprecedented decision to allow them to remain in the same recovery bed.
Lying together side by side, the lovable twins continue to reach out, stretching their little legs across one another,
as they’ve been doing since birth. Devoted mum-of-six Bhumchu Zangmo hasn’t stopped smiling since the marathon six-hour operation, laughing out loud when doctors joked she’d better get used to carrying a child on each hip!
FIGHTING SPIRIT
The girls and Bhumchu came to Melbourne in October, thanks to the Children First Foundation, an Australian-based charity that gives children from developing countries access to specialist surgeries and medical care.
One of the few people outside the medical team authorised to visit is CFF chief executive Elizabeth Lodge, who dropped by to see the girls just two days after they were separated, and was clearly moved by their fighting spirit. “It’s extraordinary the recovery they’ve made. It was beautiful – they sort of turned their heads towards each other and were reaching out to touch, like good mates do.
“They were taking care of each other even though they’re no longer joined – they as such were joined in spirit,” she says.
“Bhumchu was having a little break when I was there – getting some fresh air and some spring sunshine, and her words were, ‘I’m so relieved, I’m so happy, I’m very, very grateful.’
“She had spoken to her husband at home in Bhutan and her other children, and they were all elated!” Elizabeth told Weekend Sunrise.
Bhumchu, 38, can’t thank the Australian people enough for gifting her girls a real chance to lead quality lives. “I want to say thank you to everyone for bringing the twins and me from Bhutan, and all the efforts to take care of us, feed us and clothe us,” she said through a translator.
“I can’t describe how I feel when I see them. I’ve been used to taking care of them as one person, but I feel it will be better for them after surgery because they can learn to start walking or doing whatever they want.”
At 8.45am, Friday November 9, in Theatre 6 at the RCH, the sisters went under anaesthetic – it would be their final nap as one. With a dedicated team of 25 of the best surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists in the country, the twins, originally joined at the torso and sharing a liver, were finally separated six hours later.
WILD APPLAUSE
When the medical team, led by head of paediatric surgery Dr Joe Crameri, emerged post-op still dressed in their scrubs to brief the media, they were treated to a rockstar reception with thunderous applause.
“We didn’t find any surprises – we knew the liver would be connected and we divided that successfully. The main challenge was getting the abdomen reconstructed,” explains Dr Crameri. “The best part of the surgery is there were no highs and there were no lows – it was all very calm… there was calm discussion and banter.”
Since the separation, Bhumchu has rarely left the twins’ side, stroking their tiny faces, rubbing their feet, constantly marvelled by their extraordinary bond.
And when she takes short rests, the girls are lovingly comforted by the dedicated team of RCH nurses, who regularly sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star in English to their favourite little patients.
They may never know the words, but they will always be reminded when they look to the stars of a time their sweet smiles and fighting spirit touched so many hearts.
‘Thank you to everyone for all the efforts to take care of us’