The mother of “miracle twins” Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf yesterday spoke of her joy at her boys becoming teenagers against all the odds.
Angie Benhaffaf said that seeing her formerly conjoined sons become teenagers was a momentous milestone she thought they might never reach.
The twins were connected to each other from chest to pelvis at birth, sharing some vital organs and having just one leg each.
READ MORE: Mam's pride as Irish twins who were born conjoined win big at UK games
In 2009, at 34 weeks pregnant, Angie and her husband Azadeen had to travel to London to have them.
When they were four months old they underwent a 16-hour operation at Great Ormond Street hospital to separate them.
At the time doctors gave the twins little chance of survival but they overcame the odds and last week celebrated their thirteenth birthday.
Angie, below, yesterday told RTE’s Miriam O’Callaghan it has been a very difficult year for the family from Carrigtwohill, Co Cork but the twins are full of optimism about the future.
She said: “It’s been a week-long celebration according to the boys because they’ve so much lined up.
“I’ve never seen two children so excited to turn 13. They just wanted to go for some Mexican food and the cinema, and that was it.
“There was no lavish party, that was typical of them.”
But she added that her boys have a lot more surgery in the future and are scheduled to travel to London next week for an appointment at Great Ormond Street Hospital.
She said: “From one week to the next you never really have a chance to stop and catch your breath.
“I just feel that every single week there’s something…it’s exhausting.
“As many mums of sick children will understand, you don’t get a day off.”
READ NEXT:
Dad regrets 'moment of madness' that cost him job, freedom and unborn child
Concern for missing rugby player weeks after being sent home from Ireland tour
Girl dies after taking 'unknown tablet' in nightclub as teen arrested
Meghan and Harry's documentary 'utterly explosive and worse than royals can imagine'
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
