now marwa and safa were born in pakistan
back in 2017.
they were conjoined twins babies joined
at the head it's a very rare condition
they were later flown to london for
treatment and after more than 50 hours
of surgery and months of
hospital care at great ormond street
they were finally ready to go home
our medical editor fergus walsh spoke to
the family before they left
twin sisters with a special bond
it's now just over a year and a half
since safir and marwa were separated
that's it
they're still having physical therapy
which they clearly enjoy
but they've been through a lot to get
here and neither
has emerged unscathed
the girls were born joined at the head
an extremely rare condition
they'd never seen each other's faces the
bbc followed their incredible journey
as over four months they underwent more
than
50 hours of surgery safa and marwa's
skull
was one long tube their brains were
misshapen
and interconnected separating them
involved a huge team at great ormond
street hospital
with every stage every stitch planned
in minute detail all of it was paid for
by a private donor once the twins were
finally separated
surgeons created a rounded skull for
each of them
using pieces of shared bone thank you
for their mother zainab the surgeons are
heroes
this the moment she was told they'd both
survived
the road to recovery has been long and
progress
slow nonetheless zainab was delighted to
be taking them home
at last
very good progress especially
she only need little bit support for her
to take the mobility her further
and we will take a good care of suffer
and hopefully she will start walking as
well
in theater the surgeons had to make a
near impossible choice there's something
losing
deep down there that i can't see at the
moment only one twin
could receive some key blood vessels
that nourished
both their brains they were given to
marwa
the weaker twin but as a result safa
had a stroke safa now has permanent
damage to her brain
and may never walk i feel marwa has done
really well and carries on making great
progress so
when i look at the whole family yes it
was probably the right thing to do for
the
for the whole family but for suffer
as an individual i'm not so sure it's a
decision that
i made as a surgeon it's a decision that
we made as a team
and it's it's it's a decision we have to
live with
and does it still trouble you yes very
much so
i think it always well
both girls have learning difficulties
but the family say they have no regrets
and whatever the future holds
marwa and safir will face it together
as sisters and twins but also
separate individuals fergus walsh bbc
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