Safa and Marwa
In early 2018, Professor Jeelani was referred a set of conjoined twins from Pakistan. Separation surgery was not possible in Pakistan, the twins did not qualify for free care by the NHS and the family could not afford the £1 million needed to fund their separation surgery in the United Kingdom. Professor Jeelani was therefore left in an impossible position: he was desperate to help the girls but there was no funding available to do so. His desire to help Marwa and Safa led to the decision to create Gemini Untwined.
Thanks to the generosity of Gemini Untwined’s first donor, who agreed to fund the twins’ surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital, Safa and Marwa’s separation surgery became possible. After significant logistical challenges to enable the twins to travel, they finally arrived in the United Kingdom, in August 2018.
The first stage of separation was undertaken in October 2018, with this surgery lasting 10 hours. The next stage of separation was 4 weeks later in November 2018. The surgery was more complicated and lasted some 22 hours. The tissue expanders were inserted in January 2019 and the final separation was undertaken in February 2019. This surgery lasted some 14 hours. The girls were discharged from hospital in July 1, 2019 and continue to make steady progress within an ongoing rehabilitation programme.
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In The Media
BBC News — Conjoined twins: How doctors separated twins joined at the head
https://www.bbc.com/news/health-49002044
TIME — Conjoined Twin Girls Successfully Separated After 50 Hours of Operations
https://time.com/5627206/safa-marwa-ullah-conjoined-twins/
Sky News — Twins conjoined by skulls separated after 50 hours of operations
https://news.sky.com/story/twins-conjoined-by-skulls-separated-after-50-hours-of-operations-11763820
The Guardian — Conjoined twins separated at Great Ormond Street
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/15/conjoined-twins-separated-great-ormond-street-safa-marwa
Reuters / Good Morning America — Twins conjoined at the head successfully separated after 55 hours of surgery
https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/news/story/twins-conjoined-head-successfully-separated-55-hours-surgery-64376237