A new goal for miracle twins... be soccer stars!
Formerly conjoined twins Hassan and Hussein tackling a new challenge
MIRACLE Cork twins Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf have again defied the odds to become the stars of their local soccer club.
The six-year-old formerly conjoined twins, who are now able to move about independently with prosthetic limbs, are honing their ball skills with Frame Football, an FAI-backed initiative in Midleton, Co. Cork, designed specifically for young players who use frames and walking aides.
The boys’ mother, Angie Benhaffaf, said watching her soccer-mad sons playing football every week is something she once believed would never be possible.
Angie, 41, from Carrigtwohill, Co. Cork, said the confident twins, dubbed ‘The Little Fighters’, have now even set their sights on representing Ireland at the Para- lympics when they grow up.
She said: ‘The boys joined up with Frame Football last month and it’s been wonderful for them. There are about seven children in the sessions and they all use walking frames.
‘Some years ago my husband, Azzedine, who loves football, asked me if I ever thought there’d be a day when the boys would be able to kick a football around. Well, that day has come and they are at their happiest when they’re playing.
‘The FAI deserves a huge pat on the back for this, because it’s allowed my boys to get out and just enjoy being boys.’
Angie, who has two older daughters with her husband Azzedine, said the sports- mad boys have also signed up to a local sports club, the Rebel Wheelers, which is designed for children in wheelchairs.
The twins were just five months old when they were separated by Irishborn surgeon Dr Edward Kiely at London’s Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.