Dying to Be Apart (Siamese Twins Documentary) | Only Human

July 2003 twin sisters laden and Lally be Johnny underwent a controversial and dangerous 50 hour operation to separate their conjoined heads nearly 30 years of being joined together was long enough Lally Laden's wishes was to see each other face to face that was their their best dream that they ever had early in their lives the twins realized they were very different people they had different ambitions hobbies and tastes both wanted separate lives both were determined to make it happen they thought there was nothing they couldn't do they thought that they could do whatever other people did their quest was to find a surgeon willing to separate them their friends family and the man who eventually agreed to operate tell their story this is certainly one of the greatest professional dilemmas I've had whatever decision we made would be very controversial an operation never before performed on adults was carried out in the glare of the world's press the twins were risking death for their dream we're going to be so different after surgery our eyes ears and face will all be different how do you think we look I think we'll have round faces and our eyes will look normal we'll be beautiful I'll have a nose job the twins knew their lives were at stake but they couldn't bear to stay the way they were Laden and Lolly be Johnny had lived for most of their adult lives in the Iranian capital Tehran they were clever engaging and ambitious they had devised their own ingenious ways of coping with everyday life the most trivial task was a major event they just had to get on with things in the mid-1990s the twins were law students at Tehran University by then laden and Lally had asserted themselves as individual women each with her own hopes and ambitions what they shared was a dream of total physical independence what do you want to do off the separation I want to be a lawyer a lawyer for women not men they can take care of themselves and if you want you can be my secretary really after four years of studying you want me to become your secretary I'd rather be a typist at university Lally had decided to become a journalist Laden wanted to stick with the law without separation the lives of these two dissimilar women would become impossible asleep would touch a city the main thing was the huge difference in their personalities there was knowledge depression and sensitivity then there was Laden's illusory joyfulness which sometimes made her laugh so much that it annoyed other people but the truth is that it wasn't genuine laughter hey laughter frequently concealed intense anguish as far as they could Laden and lale led lives much like those of millions of other young women throughout the world they loved clothes cosmetics and dancing but those moments of real joy couldn't be sustained underneath lurks frustration and distress they were constantly wondering whether they would be separated one day whether they would be like other people free so all their anguish and troubles would come to an end the thought didn't simply come to them out of the blue because their dream and their friends dream but this dream had always existed the twins dreamed of physical separation they quite simply wanted to be able to live their own lives with their own careers quite independent of each other they had so much of dreams they have tons of dreams and how they want to go and work they want to buy houses they wanted to build their lives by themselves and as different individuals and be successful [Music] to make all this become real the twins needed help educated urban and middle class they were quite capable pursuing their target but they couldn't do it on their own their early life had given little hint of how far they had come laden and Lally page on e started life in surroundings very different from bustling Tehran they had been born into rural poverty a poverty from which they had been mysteriously wrenched only hours after they were born the twins family came from the small isolated village of Loras in southern Iran their father dad Oliver Johnny was a poor farmer he and his wife shared a small heart with their large family the village had no medical facilities so Maryam Bjarni gave birth in a nearby hospital Laden and Lali were born on January the 17th 1974 their father could hardly grasp all the doctors were saying the next morning they told us you have two daughters I said thank God then they said you have two daughters stuck together in the head even so I still said thank God I kept on thanking God while she was pregnant Maryam Bjarni had been ill and heavily sedated when she eventually came round her daughters had already been taken way she learned what happened from her own mother when I came around after the birth I did not know anything people kept on asking my mother about the children and she told them we have two girls they asked her where are they she said their heads are stuck together so they took them to Shiraz Lord an and Lolly had been taken to a better equipped Hospital in the city of Shiraz a hundred or so miles away here it was hoped they might be separated Laden and lale were an extremely rare case of Craney Apogee's twins this occurs only once in about two million live births [Music] their condition was quite beyond the doctors at Shiraz and after three years of tests and examinations no one was any nearer to finding a solution the twins parents were able to visit them in Shiraz quite regularly then one day when the sisters were three they were again suddenly and without warning spirited away we would see them often until 1977 then one day we went there and confined our children just imagine when a chicken loses his cheek it would call out - I was like the chicken was mustard chick I was looking for them the twins were in another hospital 500 miles away in Tehran it was thought that specialists there might be able to separate them was amazingly their mother and father weren't told where their daughters had gone from their isolated village the twins parents couldn't trace them and for years that completely lost touch even in Tehran doctors were baffled nobody knew what the next step should be the twins story was becoming something of an international curiosity and came to the attention of an affluent Tehran businessman ali reza sapphire he adopted them mr. Safian brought up the girls 500 miles away from their home village and light-years away in terms of Education and social standing they acquired a certain fame they even met the ayatollah khomeini sofyan took up the search for a surgeon who might be prepared to separate the twins he looked at home and abroad but no doctor was willing to try as the twins grew older their frustrations only increased the strain became intolerable their life was really difficult the ordinary things that everyone can do on their own they had to do together like they had to go to the toilet together they couldn't watch television together when they were watching television one of them had to hold the mirror like this so she could see the reflection of the television in the mirror by the time they were 14 the twins were no longer able to put up with life as it was they took their plight to an international neuroscience conference in Tehran they went to the conference with mr. Safian every day until they found someone ready to listen a prominent neurosurgeon from Germany I think the main point of the life of them was find somebody to be divided that was the dream of the birds they were very proud that they are managing everything that was a very positive aspect they showed us how they run how they take bicycle and they play ball they go to the school and they are making a development of intellectual carrier dr. Sammy arranged for tests on the twins to be carried out in Tehran and more on his return to Hannover he kept coming back to one particular obstacle the twins shared one major vein to drain the blood from their two brains dr. Sammy decided but to operate in this highly sensitive area of the blood drainage system would risk the twins lives they could bleed to death it took me about four weeks to make the decision because I still I was fighting with myself still I was fighting myself try to find a way you know and but the more I was searching the more I were thinking to do the more I become convinced that it is impossible this was an unexpected blow to the twins they had been so confident they had even packed their bags ready to fly to Germany their hopes were dashed laden and Lolly now faced the extra burdens of adolescence they were ordinary people they had all the same feelings that ordinary girls had the idea of getting married and having children was every bit as exciting for them as it was for me and the other girls Lauren wish that the holidays not unused to joke with us about it she used to say that she wanted to get married but we could see that really she was interested even if she joked about it a lot I could say that she wanted these jokes to become reality Hardy VM - they were [ __ ] [Music] the twins had been determined to live as normal a life as possible but this only led to more problems over the years they developed curvature of the spine they were terrified their spines might snap and the problems were not just physical therapists Elinor's they were far more distressed about social and emotional problems one of the things which cause lolly so much suffering was the fact that people were afraid of them I remember once we wanted to go to a party so we went to a hair salon but the hairdresser just couldn't do their hair because she was frightened of touching their heads the twins relationship was complex they had their own characteristics and quirks yet each depended on the other they had mood swings one moment they were very happy the next Billy lolly especially began to suffer from depression but they settled into definite roles and found their own ways of coping [Music] it was not that who looked after there was not and always did the cooking if they were ill Laden made the sure it was always Laden who made the appointments to see the doctor of course they always went to see the doctor together but not and would say I took lollies to see the doctor doctor by the admission muffin load and go floral arrow' board and doctor the twins difficulties were mounting not only that their relationship with mr. Safian was turning sour they wanted to leave their adopted father mr. Safian separated us from society he ostracize us from it and he blocked every window of hope we may have had and he knew we weren't happy about that situation at all the chance to escape came in 1996 after years of searching the girls biological parents finally tracked them down and made contact by now the twins in their early 20s were law students living in their own terror an apartment they won their independence from mr. Safian in court and custody was transferred back to their real parents there were opportunities as well as setbacks the twins were offered jobs on a trial basis working on the website of the Iranian Broadcasting Corporation Leiden would like the computers a lot she's a lawyer so she loves information about the world and how everything is and Lolly would love games computer games but after a month the twins had another setback they were made redundant not Norma that incident really disappointed the twins after the Lana told me that we either have to be separated or die and Laden agreed with her redundancy made the twins review their lives it rekindled their longing for separation and careers of their own they began to trawl through the internet to find adopter willing to operate on them [Music] their father who was visiting them watched with fascination as his daughters played with a big box in the corner of the room I was at their house one night and asked them what are you doing with that books they said we are looking for a way to separate our heads from each other they were looking for a doctor they wanted to do it they wanted to be separated and free after more fruitless months they found the answer in a newspaper the article was about the separation of Nepalese twin babies at a hospital in Singapore the neurosurgeon who had performed the operation was dr. Keith go the twins emailed him doctor Gao agreed to meet them in November 2002 the twins flew 4,000 miles from Tehran to the Far East [Music] Singapore a strange and unfamiliar world to laden and Lolly but it was a world which offered the twins the prospect of separate lives at last [Music] they were desperate to meet the man who gave them that hope doctor go the twins met the consultant neurosurgeon at a raffles hospital the morning after they arrived in Singapore to anyone who met them they seemed to be too articulate well-groomed happy individuals who just happened to be stunted in the world didn't understand what was going on inside the hits they said it's almost 30 years that they've had to put up with this and it was enough scans revealed that their thirty years together had taken a physical toll to the left side of Laden's brain had been slowly compressed against the right side of La leis it was not just their skulls that were joined but their brains as well this is laDawn this is Lally and this is the plane of separation between the two brains you can see that there seems to be a mild degree of fusion between the two brains and the this part seems to be squashed doctor Gao explained the dangers of any separation to the twins although he had separated children who conjoined at the head no one had ever attempted the separation with adults adults brains are less malleable than children's and need longer to recover after surgery [Music] separating older twins like Lardon and Lally could cause paralysis or blindness it could cause death they said look give us some time and we'll get back to you and I know that there were a lot of Tears but at the end of three days you know very calmly and coolly they said look we've thought about it and we're ready so just go ahead [Music] they were worn out with living like that their concerns about their future made them all the more determined not to let anyone stop them from going through with what they had decided they had made their decision and it was what they wanted with all their hearts but after the hospital admission [Music] dr. NGO was impressed with the twins resolve but he needed time to think about the implications of any operation I had quite a few months of struggling whether we should go ahead with the surgery or just turned them away at the same time I was faced with two patients who were determined to have their will done regardless of the risk and with the full understanding that the price they would have to pay could have been their lives but even if dr. goat did decide to proceed surgery was still a long way off counselors psychologists and members of the hospital ethics committee descended on the twins for interviews reports and assessments I need to be reassured that in fact Laden and Lolly know the reason both know what's what to expect and I came out very convinced that Laden and Lara very clear in their mind that this is something they wanted to do the hospital even hired an English teacher to make sure that lolly and la Don understood all the issues and the risks that went with them the twins though just wanted to get on with it they had made up their minds years ago they were asking me why the need for Ethics Committee this is to them it's a purely medical thing they want to go ahead with it I think they were worried in case the Medical Ethics Committee would be against the operation [Music] will you stay with me off the separation I'll get rid of you in escape no I'm kidding I'll be with you wherever you go I've decided I'll leave you whenever we have an argument okay you have to make up for all these years together just tell me where you are and you can do whatever you want the twins pushed impatiently for separation and the freedom which would come with it doctor go had to decide whether he could take the risk [Music] laden and Lolly by johnny waited in singapore while medical and ethical decisions were made about whether to try to separate them the neurosurgeon dr. NGO used life-sized three-dimensional models of the twins skulls and brains to help him understand their complex predicament his examination revealed further problems their brain pressures were twice normal which explained why they required frequent headache medication I think what would have happened in the next few years as the pressure built up that could have led to a stroke it could have also led to pressure on the optic nerves which would affect their vision can you imagine if one of these girls was blind oh if one of them had a stroke dr. Gogh had struggled with the medical and ethical issues for months but what finally tipped the balance was something very down-to-earth I think that the key factor which made my mind up to go ahead was when I had a glimpse into how difficult it was for them to sleep it was a struggle just to get out of bed and I I said to myself you know my goodness if this is what they had to go through every single day for the last 30 years then we got to do something to help them [Music] la Don and la ley only cared about getting their way for the hospital authorities it was the start of a complex and consuming task dr. go began to gather a team of colleagues from around the world highly skilled specialists who would tackle the intricacies of the twins conjoined brains the venture was named Operation Hope the major issue in the brain separation was this common shared vein through which 70% of blood flow from each of the brains would come through before heading down to the neck and one of the key points in the surgery was to create a bypass for one of the twins so that each twin would have their own drainage system after separation there would be a gaping hole in each skull where the twins heads had been joined the models were also used for planning their reconstruction you can see how the plastic surgeons would then have to work on covering this huge defect in the cranium using a combination of skin and muscle flaps but it's a very large area almost twice the size of your apartment while the twins waited for their operation they celebrated their 29th birthday a big party was thrown for them their cake symbolized their hopes for the future [Music] we had a big birthday cake just two hearts but joined at the edges just like you can imagine - the way they were joined they grabbed my hand together we had to do the cake cutting they sent me a birthday card but in their excitement they had written all over it about the wonderful and happy time they were having completely forgetting to write me any kind of birthday message on the card so they phoned me later and said we sent you a birthday card but we forgot to mention your birthday on it a little more a Lardon and lale stayed at raffles hospital for their entire time in Singapore this wasn't cheap but the doctors waived their fees for the operation and the hospital started a fund for the twins it was like they were staying in hotel we would call raffles Hospital raffles hotel they felt really special here that they could go shopping for themselves and people hold gatherings just for them and make them feel special as the operation drew near friends noticed that the twins new clothes seemed to symbolize their wish to be separate and you see twins we expect them to address you know similarly same colors of shoes blouses and they did that for most of the time but I noticed that as time went on as they were coming closer to the operation I began to notice that they were wearing different colors and I think they want to impress on us know they are two separate individuals [Music] the twins were invited to worship at a mosque in Singapore they confided their thoughts to the Imam [Music] they know the risk very well but the excitement to be separated and to live normally as any one of us is so great in their mind they try their best to push the doctors not to change their minds because they have undergone these failures all their life I mean they have tried at so many places so many countries [Music] in a middle of thinking they knew that it was a very risky operation but they refuse to believe that both or one of them might die the idea that one of them might die was as horrifying as that both of them might die Lally was afraid of surviving but losing Laden and Laden was afraid of surviving but losing the relationship between the twins was always finally balanced some wondered if the normally dominant Laden had swayed lale against her wishes both wanted it equally but because LaDonna used to talk about the operation so much more some people had the impression that it was only Laden who wanted to have the operation and that Lally was sort of being forced into it but this was not so they were both equally happy about having the operation of Melrose even as the date of the operation drew close doctor go noticed a change in the twins relationship the normally subordinate lale began to take on a new responsibility my initial impressions were that Ladon was extremely extroverted she was in charge Lally on the other hand was reserved but I came to realize that that was more quiet strength she actually emerged as the stronger more determined one whereas Ladon despite the outward show of being extroverted actually carried a lot more fears so being so extroverted was her way of coping with you know the the risk of surgery and possible bad outcome a month before the operation the twins gave a press conference to satisfy the immense media interest using their friend Baha Nico's translator Laden gave the world a glimpse of her fears with just a few weeks to go the twins anxieties grew they worried less about dying more about surviving in a worse condition than their present one they became more nervous they're saying what if I become handicapped they would talk about like what if I can't talk after the operation you know and I would say silly don't say all that everything's gonna be okay they they were getting nervous in that way in that way that you know what if they can't do something they can't move their arm what if they can't yeah they were pretty nervous litigation at me nothing's going to happen but it's a possibility no I don't think about it at all you're too scared I'm really worried Lord and I hope after the operation we won't go crazy crazy don't worry about it just imagine they write in the papers that larger and larger and government the outcome of operation madness an Iranian friend brought a holy cloth to Singapore the twins believed it would bring success for the coming operation it helped calm their nerves it was their destiny to be the first people to have it used on them they placed the cloth on their heads with such joy and eagerness I cut pieces from the cloth and tied them around their wrists they kept these on even in the operating theatre they said we won't die now that you have placed this cloth on our heads they had such strong faith in it by July the huge international team for Operation Hope was ready for action dr. ben Carson a top American neurosurgeon would lead the team with dr. go there were three more neurosurgeons two vascular surgeons six plastic surgeons and eight anesthetists 21 doctors in all plus 30 or so nurses and numerous support staff there were team members from France Switzerland Japan and Nepal as well as the US in Singapore I talked to a lot of people to try and make the right decision recognizing of course that if things ended up in failure that that we would be probably hung out to dry but you see in in medicine that you can't really choose your patients your patients choose you [Music] in the last days before the operation Bakshi Reza and the twins other Iranian women friends gathered to pray for the success of surgery Laden and Lolly joined them they were so happy they said this time next week we will be separated and one of us will be sitting here and the other one will be sitting there and with joy I told them and I will be sitting between you [Music] gosh holder they sounded so happy that they were going to have the operation soon and they told me that they would come to visit me after it right up to the last minute they said to their friends go and buy us two single beds because from now on we will be sleeping in separate beds on the fifth of July Laden and Lally had their hair cut in preparation for their surgery the hair was to be made into wigs to cover their reconstructed skulls Lally drew two small sketches of herself and her sister with their haircut they wrote they will shave our heads before the operation so we will be bald and hairless Lally also drew pictures of herself and Laden as they would look after separation [Music] nah not really only when we argue how about you me I don't like it when you're ill-mannered everyone knows that whenever you're like that I want to be separated and get rid of you but on the whole I don't mind it just before the operation the twins issued a letter to the press both of us have started on this journey together and we hope that the operation will finally bring us to the end of this difficult path and that we may begin our new and wonderful lives as two separate people two lifetimes of frustration were about to end for good or ill it was an enormous responsibility for dr. NGO and his fellow surgeon dr. ben Carson they asked me to take care of them and to make sure that they would be alright and I said you know don't worry everything will be fine and then they said where's Ben so he came forward and they said please we are your children take care of us like you would your own children and he said of course I will you know don't worry you'll be fine when you wake up everything will be all right it was time for the twins to say goodbye to the friends who had supported them during their eight-month stay in Singapore [Music] lonnis saw a little bit of tears and me and said don't why you crying don't cry we're very happy it's nothing don't cry and she said come on give me a kiss and I gave her you know I gave her a blow kiss they said no you have to give me a real kids and I gave lolly kiss first and then two Laden and then and then I told them be strong and they hold their strong hands and bye bye just before 10 a.m. on July the 7th 2003 the twins in a huge double bed were pushed into the operating theater a weight of nearly 30 years had ended at last laden and Lally B Johnny was single-minded in their struggle for separate lives now they had that possibility but only if they're difficult marathon operation was a success while they were undergoing surgery to separate them their friends gathered in the hospital lobby TV and newspapers fed the world's appetite the plight of the twins touched emotions everywhere at first the operation went to plan hopes group success seemed insight after 30 hours the construction of the new bypass vein was completed a blockage was cleared and the blood flowed freely again there was a great feeling of anticipation that hey we could pull this off and and then we began seeing bleeding the network of veins venous structures around the twins brains had burst unexpectedly the venous structures down here the deep part they don't look particularly abnormal or too large but somehow during the course of the surgery these areas became abnormally dilated and expanded into huge venous Lakes from which we had the uncontrollable bleeding after 50 hours on the operating table laden the stronger dominant twin was losing her fight for life there was really no turning back and we had to quickly complete the disconnection and then try and stop the hemorrhage in that situation you know the the tension level rises and people start working blood faster and we knew we had to just quickly get on with it and and finish the separation there was nothing doctor go and his team could do soon after separation had been completed Laden died [Music] but friends waiting in the lobby knew nothing of her death they still believed the operation was going well I was so happy I was gonna see them and then I saw the hospital staff and they told me to come up I went to where it's their own and I I saw my mom and she said and I looked towards the bed at the side of Laden I I saw a flower in the car on top of there incident over every morning I telephoned the hospitals and I spoke to one of my friends there I could hear them all crying as far as I was concerned it was all over because I knew that Lali would be lost without Lauda and I dreaded to think what would become of her because the truth of the situation was that losing Laden would mean the end of Lali - because Laden had been like a mother to Lali fought on alone separated from her sister for the first time ever but her independence was short-lived after 90 more minutes she too died from massive blood loss [Music] the mood and the atmosphere in the operating theatre was completely flattened it was completely numb so people cried you know there was a lot of questioning we were so close to completing a successful separation I was numb for the first 24 hours after surgery [Music] the next morning you know I I was very very sad I I cried with my wife I was sitting here after lunch my nephew just came and sat next to me I said tell me what's happened are the children dead he said yes I said God knows best it's all in God's hands two days later the bodies of law Dan and Lally arrived in their parents village of the rasp friends and well wishers packed the tiny village we were very moved when we see that their dreams came true that when they went back to Iran as 2% [Applause] we had really come to love these two it's very hard to have met them and not have been touched and I think the whole world had a glimpse of that will you stay with me off the separation I'll get rid of you and escape no I'm kidding I'll be with you wherever you go even after surgery no one will separate us [Music] you [Music] you

Channel: Only Human

Views: 7,504,710

Keywords: Only Human, astonishing story, close relationship, documentary, extraordinary circumstances, family dynamics, groundbreaking surgery, innovative procedures, intimate interview, life lesson, medical ethics, medical miracles, personal journey, personal sacrifice, rare condition, shared destiny, shared struggles, surgery success, tragic outcome, tragic story, unique bond

Id: bxZAWzkieXA

Length: 48min 32sec (2912 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 22 2017