A family are locked in prayer but heaving major sighs of relief today, after a surgeon successfully separated 13-month-old twin boys joined at the head.
Little Jadon and Anias McDonald underwent a gruelling 16-and-a-half-hour long surgery today, including separation and reconstruction, at the Montefiore Medical Centre in The Bronx, New York.
The delicate procedure was carried out by Dr James Goodrich, who told the boys’ parents, Nicole and Christian McDonald, that their case was ‘right there on top’ as the most difficult he has ever taken on.
Taking to Facebook to inform family and friends that she now has ‘two separate babies’, Nicole gave an insight into just how touch-and-go the surgery was.
“There was a point where Dr Goodrich debated stopping the whole procedure because it was just too risky, but an opening presented itself and they went for it, and it ended up being the right call,” she wrote.
There is a long road ahead of the boys yet, and medics will be monitoring them for brain swelling and stroke over the coming weeks.
Summing up her mixed emotions right now, Nicole revealed: “I ache with the uncertainty of the future. I didn’t cry until the surgeons left the room. I was barely able to even utter the words ‘thank you’, because of the pit that still sits heavy in my stomach.”
Describing her family as ‘standing on the brink of a vast unknown’, Nicole added: “The next few months will be critical in terms of recovery, and we will not know for sure how Anias and Jadon are recovering for many weeks.”
We’re wishing the boys all the best with the journey ahead, and the entire family will remain in our thoughts.
