Katie and Eilish: The Unbreakable Bond of Conjoined Twins | Our Life

[Music] was like a robot I just seem to just go down that Corridor in a State of Shock and uh when I got down I had to prepare before I went in to see them I had to sterilize and wash my hands and put on protective clothing and uh I just went straight in I didn't just prepare myself to look I just went over and just before I knew what was happening I was looking straight at my two daughters and my first words were to the doctor aren't they beautiful and he he sort of looked at me in surprise and he said yes I suppose they [Music] are I have autographs first Cas the shop would be too much after seeing the photographs I wanted to see them in reality you know photographs can only tell you so much so when I saw them they're just two little babies they I was amazed at how normal looking they were you know and um they frightened I suppose at the same time frightened that I would hurt them by holding them this way or that way like all mothers she just you know she was just the lightest with them she just they were her children just like her other children and she had just the same bonding at that moment that any mother would have to her newborn baby I was afraid I'd BN too much that that was a worry um because we thought they'd die and you were afraid to let yourself go too far to getting to know them prior to um them being born that thought did come to us that uh we probably probably will not be able to accept them like we would accept other babies but when we saw them and held them that just evaporated away it just wasn't a it wasn't a consideration where our heart was probably ruling our head at that stage you know we just didn't we didn't logically think anymore we just our emotions were just taken over by the the joy of of seeing the little children alive and you know wanting to be held like all newn [Music] babies here no I can't push any see [Music] daddyy daddy is over there excited over you Daddy you may 1991 one and the twins Katie on the right and ish on the left are 2 and 1/2 years old they're playing with their three older [Music] sisters right Mary and Liam only found out they were expecting siamese twins the day before they were born by cesarian section their doctors decided not to separate them go KY good girl I think the natural response when you see twins like this is to see if they can be like the rest of us whether that's good or bad H and therefore lead separate existences but equally one would have to consider whether separating them just for the sake of conforming to our ideas of normality would in fact help them or kill them because this is a surgical procedure especially in the first few months of life that carries a reasonably High mortality as the infants get older the mortality rate drops can get down as low as 10% the Halton live in a small village outside Dublin where the twins are well known sausages you want to hold them they're cold are they cold yeah are they freezing it we won't ever have a completely normal life because we would always be open to people gazing at us when we go out in public but um I think acceptance is probably what we want more than anything else and or even the security in our own in ourselves that we're able to come and go as we please was my wash your hands again may it how normal it is I I I know we strive to keep it normal but I mean I'm amazed that we're actually more or is able to manage that we do what most families do trips to the zoo or trips to the supermarket and everybody goes Mary how are you hey girl [Music] well look go you tired we tired catch him we [Music] tired we're very tired sami's twins are extremely rare they occur once in a 100,000 births when purely by chance an egg in the womb fails to divide successfully to sit on the floor the chair the chair okay Keys up there although Katie and iisha siamese twins their parents regard them as normal children in a unique situation straight we right no take this off war in here I don't see how I would have coped in this situation at all and yet miss hton meets you as though but everybody else is twins like this so what's the problem you thirsty get a drink okay do you want apple juice yes Mommy you want seven up I think it takes tremendous strength and uh I suppose love to uh achieve this kind of equinity in dealing with a problem like they appear to have being brought up in that household these twins are going to have great difficulty believing that there is really anything very much wrong with them they're so much part of the family so much part of everyday life they are accepted in their Community um so they are not made to feel very different Liam is a sales rep for a pharmaceutical company neither he nor Mary feels bitter the situation was much greater than us like crying over it or being angry over it or being bitter over it wasn't going to change the way the Twins were so then you have to look into another part of yourself and say well right uh if I have to accept you know this cross Christians would probably call it a cross you know the twins being the way they are is probably a cross like how do you carry that cross lightly or with meaning you you're coming a very you can come up this way you like you don't have to come around us physically the twins are healthy although doctors can't say for certain whether they'll live to a normal age they attend weekly physiotherapy sessions to improve their Mobility go over here to the balloon quickly it will take a while before they can walk I I imagine they're very top heavy and they're two legs are are holding the weight of two bodies which is a difficulty in itself and um also it's said that a baby develops from the head down and I would imagine because they're able to sit up and just move on the floor that their legs are not developed yet anyway and the reason for physiotherapy is that we encouraged them lift up that head aish up become come good girls and one well done and down you go slowly now as slowly as ever you like and right down I think you're having a rest halfway I would hope myself that they will walk initially I can see they'll start off with some Appliance or other that they just just won't walk as a normal child would walk don't let me pull you backwards they'll need something to support their upper body weight backwards come on good girls well done well done is mom helping with the toes down there no no Alish is looking and Kate is hidden now who's there two girls two girls there go on BL them up again Catherine likes a bit of fun she likes to be in the middle of things I is a little bit more reserved and likes size people up and wouldn't be as uh free making with people as C oh that's a nice rest I think those balloons could go home could they they get on quite well okaya most time occasionally there's a a bit of a r right if one has a particular toy and the other ones so they kind of a little scratching session or I'll bite you baby the Big Splash on my face there I did is that nice is [Music] it messing are you messing I'm not Ming no you're good aren't you oh you like this look you're blowing like this imagine if water was up to there on me right down there now blow SC okay end up don't you blow oh the children are totally accepted adults not so whereas they're quite chatty at home normally or within the close Family Circle they are but if strangers come in they're inclined to shut up and say nothing and iish will observe and observe and observe and say nothing but um after a while you find that they will talk so so are they quite shy they would be shy but they're terribly nosy they like to know what's going on they Irish particularly she has to really know what's going on I suppose it's her way of making sure that everything is okay and feeling safe so are we anyone in here to see us huh hello hello hello where's KY andish oh look how are you give me a big kiss give me a big kiss oh come on how are you is well how this a good day how this huh how this a good day what about Mommy have mommy a good day she's alive just huh great oh look who's coming now hello had a good day you you like see yeah H all right how are you h is is this oh it's c yeah [Music] Gra [Music] from the beginning the question of Separation has overshadowed the twins lives but it was certainly obvious from a very early stage that these twins were going to be severely physically handicapped that it was going to be difficult if not virtually impossible to separate them and that this was going to present the parents with this terrible dilemma for many years to come so my initial reaction was one of disappointment horror if you like at the degree that the babies were going to be handicapped so since the Twins were basically healthy the pediatricians in Dublin were able to delay surgery they were heavily influenced by the fate of another set of Siamese twins born at the same hospital by an extraordinary coincidence just 6 weeks earlier an attempt was made to separate them they weren't as extensively joined as the as the Holton twins it was thought reasonable to attempt to separate these twins but regretfully both twins died during the operation to separate them or shortly afterwards we'll take off these old dirty socks will we yeah wet and they're wet my Sho oh yeah terrible isn't it now will we sit up as they grew older Katie and Alish underwent tests to find out as much about their Anatomy as possible although they have separate hearts and lungs they share other internal organs they're more severely joined than any siamese twins who've been successfully separated in the past I'm very tired staying together they really don't exhibit much sign of illness they are healthy children they are leading a good life separated they are going to be uh devoid of a number of the organs and appendages which the rest of us have to allow us to lead a normal life so we would in no way be promising them a normal life if they were separated like mean there are an awful lot of questions to be asked it's not something that you say yeah well we'll do that anyway you have to know would the life their life be better if we were to go ahead or would they live we have to know the risks which I'm sure are high there's a lot of um doubt about the liver the possibility of separating the liver uh one or other might have to have a liver transplant and that would entail major risks but aart from that um uh the pelvis is shared by both so they would only have a half a pelvis each if they were separated so really would we improve the quality of their life to any major degree by separating them just for the sake of separating them oh I see what's called the fact that Katie and Alish appear to be happy together has made their doctors wonder whether they should be separated even if it is possible have you know I don't I don't want anymore oh okay the rest of us looking at people like this think that they are different and being different is wrong and therefore that creates one pressure um the other part of it is it is possible I think for two people to have a very close relationship and perhaps not to see it as a disadvantage to be together to this degree all the time that's theoretical so though we value individuality they might not value it they might prefer togetherness if their relationship is such they could very well be happy with their togetherness now since only Katie and eish can answer this question should they be the ones to decide whether or not they're separated take out from the chair if they are left together long enough yes I could see that happening but I think we would really be talking about I suppose almost the end of the first decade before you would be they would be able to appreciate all that is involved and be able to give some kind of judgment they will have have had a life together they will at that stage have seen how different other people are they will be aware of other people's attitudes much more than they are now they may feel that the end result is worth this I think at this stage the end result is a doubtful quantity for them and uh I suppose just being a procrastinator I would certainly not want to make that decision for them will we see if there's a fish in the river yeah we look in and see if there's a fish [Music] nice summer 1991 and the holton's doctors in Dublin have now made it clear that they're unable to give a definite verdict on whether Katie and ish can be separated so they've written to three hospitals around the world which have pioneered operations in this field field Toronto Philadelphia and great Orman Street in London the answers are eagerly awaited where's the duck is that the duck what's the duck say quack quack what it's hard to think of a more touching story than that of the siese twins Katie and eish Holton last year ITV showed their parents facing the terrible decision of letting their beautiful daughters grow up together or apart they decided on an operation to separate them then Katie died now the family has invited us back to see how eish is coping on her own you could pull it out a little bit if you want would you like to lie down what I'm doing not no you any news for me to today oh go away what happened this morning the girls go back to school today yeah you miss do this bit here who you looking up at you looking up that nice picture isn't that nice picture up there who is it you in it are you are you in it come on us yes she is you see her K's up there too on a bad day you have a lump in your throat mentioning Katie on a good day you can be as eyel ases and talk freely of her and you can you know conj Dr up this lovely picture of Katie elsewhere um if you're having a bad day it's quite difficult to take that on board but you do for the sake of iish and get on with it and tell her that you know k is well-minded that Katie loves her and that Katie died because her heart was weak and to emphasize to Alish that her heart is not weak in case she would have fears look have I got everything yeah does it look like I have everything yeah right hope we go you feel the loss I suppose more more when you sit down and think about the last year whereas when you're getting on with your day-to-day life you don't you don't sit and dwell on the past and you look toward the future mommy don't I think the future is what pulls you through that you must keep going and you can't live in the past that's with the rubbish isn't it do you want to play there like I thing sorted out here huhy hey CL it's like a some it's like a bad dream you know you just wonder did it really happen uh and then when I look back I realize it did happen and that we've been through a very difficult year never it's okay there it is every's Place good I think the the grieving process is ongoing but I think we've come a long way in in accepting uh the outcome of the situation 9 months after the operation iish is making a good recovery she's had kidney infections but they seem to have gone her wound is almost fully healed she wears a bodysuit to keep the swelling down can pop in here oh big push good girl now how is she oh she's in great for I'm looking forward to seeing her oh look at her now how are you not Jerry how are you the twins former physiotherapist Jerry Walsh is Keen to see how ish is progressing so pretty and I hear you're great what's you going to do Elish are you going to show me all you can do you have show you to show me they can do can do you know the way he can get off the couch can't she can I don't believe that hold them but you she need loads of help would you m ah do you do you need loads of help Elish come on go over it come on you're going to come this way or that way come on I guess what when you get here I give you a cuddle oh now good girl that's it oh Elish you are great very great come on well done oh you're very good well done you're the best well done can you come after standing would you stand here near here would you like to get back up on the couch maybe I'm standing I she can't do that oh I think now we're getting places are we oh Alish oops brilliant pull in the leg don't forget your leg pull in your leg oh that is BR your leg that is now you stand up a bit oh where we oh sorry you got to do your own thing since I was here she's brilliant isn't she you're brilliant Alish hton absolutely brilliant it's hard to pin point exactly what um has taken place in in ish's mind but what I have noticed is her playfulness seems to have got greater and uh she has become more involved in in life than she was when she was attached to Katie but uh she doesn't show any major psychological problems that I I can see [Music] yeah no blue try blue yeah I feel she's matured all right um you know maybe that has always been there and we didn't notice this as much with Katie being beside her but um certainly since she's come home she's been the life of this house she's kept us all going and um you know in the last two months she's been in great for the blue at the back is it blue and the back all right the next step for ish is a visit to the rampton rehabilitation center in London where she will eventually be fitted with an artificial limb hello hello glad to meet you as you can see this is the right side the thigh bone the hip joint and the that side of the pelvis it is quite uh fully formed on that side and on the other side the pelvis is totally absent abent right and in addition you as you can see there's a curvature of the spine yes that is as a result of the fact that when I she is seated moving around she hasn't got that part of the pelvis to distribute the weight so she compensates with the movement of the spine exactly so as a result the spine is uh is curved curved over that side and uh this is something we ought to prevent in the future by providing a proper what we call a seating socket okay now when iish sit down she can bend that lever and and bring the yes bring the leg to the sitting position okay and when she stands up the knee joint locks automatically right so that it it is meant to give stability when she puts weight through it right is is it is it is it heavy doctor do you mind if I just feel the W all not at all just oh yes it's it's quite light for all the components components that it has do you want to feel it look yeah do you think of a leg like that back in Ireland the future now looks more certain for Alish in a few months time she'll be walking with an artificial limb scared B I get W up here yeah we I have no regrets about what we've gone through because I believe it had to be done that we had to give them the chance that was given to us we feel that Katie wanted us to take that chance we felt her explaining it to Katie uh she wanted to be separated she want us to have the freedom that we see ish has today and I mean when we see the quality of ish's life today I know Katie would have wanted that too fish are eating all the bread I know I know you want more oh you're eating some as well good girl why not it's nice bread isn't it get oh see the Ripple open the bread like a big [Music] ring a

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Length: 29min 34sec (1774 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 24 2023