What should have been
a moment of joy for a jobless couple, Mr. Elisha Bassey and his wife, Patience,
turned to sadness when a set of conjoined twins was born to the family on
Tuesday.
The 32-year-old
resident of the Federal Capital Teritory, Abuja, who is from Itu Local
Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, and his 30-year-old wife, are currently at
a loss.
The conjoined twins
were delivered at about 7 pm on July 2, 3013 at LUNA Hospital in Gwarinpa,
Abuja.
Bassey said, “The
babies are joined from the stomach and chest down. They have three legs joined
together, one liver, one kidney and one intestine.”
Ironically, the scan
that was conducted didn’t reveal that it was conjoined twins.
When our correspondent
visited the hospital on Friday evening, the issue was being discussed in hushed
tones.
Bassey told Saturday
PUNCH that his wife was still in the hospital but not fully recovered.
He said, “The scan was
done but we were not informed that it was conjoined twins. When we were told
that the babies were twins, we were all happy. For now, my wife is still in the
hospital, although not fully recovered. But she is responding to treatment.”
Bassey’s hopes were
dashed when the management of the National Hospital told him that they had done
their best but there was no hope that they could do the separation.
He said, “The doctors
at the National Hospital said they have tried their best, including scanning
and everything they could do within their power.
“They said there was
nothing else they could do in that unit. But they told me that if I have
anywhere in the world where the babies could be separated, they would assist
and send an e-mail and refer the babies to that place.
“At what cost? For
now, they have not told me but they said they could not do the separation here
and would not know where they could transfer the babies,” Bassey stated.
When contacted, the
spokesperson for the National Hospital, Dr. Tayo Haastrup, told Saturday PUNCH that series of procedures had been done
on the babies’ state of health.
He said, “The babies
were not delivered in the National Hospital. They were delivered through a
Caesarean section in a hospital somewhere in Gwarinpa; they are fine and their
mother is still in the hospital, where she delivered the children. But the
babies are now in our Special Care Babies Unit.”
When asked if any
surgery had been done to separate conjoined babies, Haastrup replied in the negative.
He said, “Surgical
operation is not the issue for now; but we have carried out some tests and
other things to find out their state of health. They are lying now well in SCBU
as I am speaking to you.”
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