A pair of conjoined twins separated in a six-hour operation in Australia left hospital with their mother today.
The 15-month-old sisters Nima and Dawa were born joined at the torso.
A team of 25 surgeons, nurses and specialists at Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne split the Bhutanese twins’ connected livers and reconstructed their abdomens in the operation earlier this month.
The girls were brought to Australia by the Children First Foundation, which will eventually help them to return home to the Himalayas.
Lead paediatric surgeon Joe Crameri said the girls would have to learn to be independent of each other, but were making “excellent” progress.
Mr Crameri said they were girls who “started off really attached and bonded to another, but were ultimately frustrated with one another”.
He said: “We saw them became incredibly anxious after the surgery once they knew their other twin was not immediately in front of them.”
He said the staff had seen the “two remarkable girls” transform since becoming independent, adding: “We have seen them gain confidence, gain independence and gain a lot of strength.”
He explained that standing will be a “work in progress” for the girls as they build up strength and balance.
