The birth of conjoined twins is rare and only thirty-five percent of babies with this anomaly live more than a day.
An incredible story that happened 33 years ago proves that the impossible can become possible, even for such fragile creatures as the Siamese twins.
Twins Viliya and Vitalia were born in the small town of Alytus, Lithuania.
When they were born, no one gave their parents a guarantee that at least one of the girls would be able to survive.
The children had a serious physical deformity.
They were conjoined twins fused at the head. Girls are born small and fragile. The parents of the babies were very saddened and very shocked.
A year later, parents gave birth to a son.
Two years after the babies were born, their parents agreed to the twins‘ separation surgery, as the babies could no longer continue to live in such a way.
Neurosurgeon Konovalov was the first in the whole world who undertook such a complicated operation.
The operation, which was carried out by a team of 20 doctors, lasted twenty-four hours.
After that, the girls underwent several more surgeries to restore the skeleton.
And despite so many fears and worries of parents, the girls survived and developed normally.
Thanks to modern technology and the high professionalism of the doctors, the very complicated operation which at that time seemed impossible, was successful and saved the children’s lives.
Viliya and Vitalia grew up to be smart, independent girls.
They live in Lithuania. One of the sisters works as a teacher, the other has become a specialist in the history of art.
When the twins were 28, on a TV show they met their savior, Doctor Konovalov.
