This is the most incredible story. Twin boys who were conjoined at the head see each other for the first time since the operation to separate them.
Little Jadon and Anias McDonald were conjoined at the crown of their heads until they were successfully separated in an extremely risky 27-hour operation.
Here’s the gorgeous moment:
The little lads made an astounding recovery – record-breaking in fact – and both pulled through the surgery which took place at Montefiore Hospital in New York.
It’s the fastest recovery for separation of craniopagus twins (conjoined at the head) in history.
The 13-month-old boys were born via caesarean and it’s a miracle they even survived for a year, with around 40% of craniopagus twins being stillborn, a further third passing away within 24 hours of birth. There’s an 80% risk they’ll die before they’re 2 if they’re not separated.
Baby Jadon (in the video below) has made an astounding recovery but baby Anias is having more difficulties, contracting viruses and infections.
However their surgeon believes Anias will pull through.
The operation cost $2.5million (USD) and their parents, Nicole and Christian McDonald, have set up a Gofundme page to help raise funds.
Their mother Nicole left a heartfelt thank you to people who’ve been donating on the page: “My eyes well up with tears every single time I scroll through the names of all of you who have donated to our babies. Your support is absolutely inspiring to us. We never expected anything from anyone…so to see all these names…names from the past and present…names that we don’t even know…is just too much to take in. Thank you all so much. When this is all over and the boys can look at each other in the eyes for the first time, it will be because of all of you.”
The baby boys have a big brother, Aza, who’s 2.
Nicole took to Facebook to describe her joy after their successful op, explaining what it was like to hold Jadon for the first time.
“For over 13 months, I’ve dreamed of this moment. I looked down at Jadon’s angelic face and saw him in a way I’d never seen him before. He whimpered for almost the whole two hours I held him because he had just been extubated, had the area under his scalp washed out and had been weaned from the good pain meds. But instead of wrapping my body around him in his bed, I wrapped my arms around him and rocked. One of the most profound moments of my life.”
Simply beautiful.
