Miracle Twins Set to Arrive Tomorrow
Published: July 21, 2005
THE homecoming of the country’s miracle babies, Tinashe and Tinotenda, one of the few sets of twins to undergo successful separation surgery, has been postponed after Sick Kids Hospital decided to throw them a farewell party before their return.
The twins, who were successfully operated on in Toronto, Canada, were expected in Harare yesterday, but are now expected back home tomorrow.
Captain Anderson Chipiro of the Salvation Army said latest information from Dr Paul Thistle, who delivered the twins at the Salvation Army Howard Hospital in Chiweshe last year, was that the boys’ return had been delayed so that a party could be hosted for them.
Dr Thistle is currently in Toronto.
“They will, however, be coming on Friday via Kenya,” said Captain Chipiro.
The boys will travel with their mother Ms Elizabeth Mufuka and their nurse Sister Grace Chirinda.
Initially the miracle boys were expected in Harare yesterday.
Sick Kids Hospital spokesperson Ms Lisa Lipkin said the party, which coincided with their first birthday celebrations yesterday, took place at the hospital and was attended by health practitioners and Zimbabwe ambassador to Canada, Cde Gabriel Machinga.
This is not the first party that has taken place in honour of the boys. Some Zimbabweans living in Canada recently held a fundraising dinner to raise money for the twins’ upkeep.
Ms Lipkin said the medical team at the hospital was pleased with their progress and had concluded that the boys were ready to return home.
Since recovering from their separation surgery earlier this year, both boys have also had successful surgeries at Sick Kids Hospital to repair their cleft lips and palates.
Tinashe, who outweighs his brother by more than a kilogramme, can stand keeping one hand on the ground for support, while Tinotenda, the smaller twin, is still working on crawling.
Tinashe and Tinotenda arrived at the Sick Kids Hospital last December in the company of their mother and nurse.
They are the tenth set of conjoined twins to be separated at Sick Kids Hospital.
The operation they underwent involved separating their joined livers and severing a joint artery that was feeding into Tinashe, leaving Tinotenda smaller.
Their abdomens were separated and extra skin was pulled up from the lower part of the trunk over the incisions. Both had a skin expander or balloon implanted under the skin before the operation to allow extra skin to grow. Tinashe and Tinotenda’s operation was made possible through financial assistance from the Herbie Fund started in 1979.
The fund has helped more than 450 children from over 80 countries to go to Sick Kids Hospital for specialist medical care that is not ordinarily and readily available everywhere.
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