The mother of these two Siamese twins who were born with their heads joined has said they are “super well” one year after undergoing a complex operation to separate them.
Twins Lis and Mel were born with their heads joined in Brazil on 1st June 2018 in north-western Brazil’s Federal District and underwent a 20-hour operation to have their heads separated on 27th April 2019.
The highly complex surgery, reportedly just the 10th such operation ever carried out in the world by doctors, had 36 stages and took place at Brasilia Children’s Hospital in the Brazilian capital.
The operation, which involved over 50 medical professionals and the twin girls are now doing well.
Their mother Camila Vieira, 26, told local media outlet Globo the months after the surgery were “very rewarding and I learnt a lot”.
She added: “Six months after the operation we were still going to the hospital often. But they were discharged in practically every check-up thank God.
“Lis and Mel are developing super well for their age.”
The mother said that one year on from the surgery: “It’s funny that now it’s one year one from the surgery, what I didn’t cry about at the time I’m crying about now.
“Today, when I stop to think about everything, I cry from emotion. It’s really rewarding seeing them. It’s seeing the miracle God does in our lives. For me, they are a miracle.”
The twins reportedly swim twice a week and go to a nursery twice a week too, with the mother most happy at seeing them “free” as “when they were joined sometimes one of them wanted to play and the other sleep”.
Mother Vieira said Mel was more smiley and joyful, but could also be “grumpy”, while Lis is affectionate, loving but “is sometimes a bit more closed”.
She added: “They are opposites, but at the same time they have ended up being very similar in some characteristics. Everything depends on the day and their mood.”
Lis and Mel Vieira 
Lis and Mel Vieira
The mother and her two daughters are reportedly currently in coronavirus lockdown at the girls’ grandmother’s house in the Ceilandia area of the Federal District.
The surgery to separate the twins was overseen by American doctor James Goodrich who reportedly died from coronavirus at the age of 71 in New York on 29th March.
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Story By: Alex Cope, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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