Cork twins Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf mark 10 years since separation surgery

- RTÉ 2 documentary on Monday covers their life and times in the past decade

Fri, 02 Apr, 2021 - 06:00

Martha Brennan

A short documentary featuring the Benhaffaf twins, who were conjoined at birth, is set to air on RTÉ on Monday. My Story: Hassan and Hussein - Born Connected explores the extraordinary story of the Cork natives, who are now 11 years old and were born connected from chest to pelvis, sharing some vital organs, with one leg each.

Their mum Angie Benhaffaf, who also has two other children, has previously talked about how difficult the journey has been for the Carrigtwohill family. According to the NCBI in the US, the survival rate of conjoined twins is just 7.5%, with 60% of those who are surgically separated surviving.

In 2009, when Angie was 34 weeks pregnant, she and her husband Azadeen had to travel to London for the twins’ birth. Hassan and Hussein later underwent separation surgery, which was performed when they were just four months old by a team in Great Ormond Street Hospital led by Cork-born surgeon Dr Edward Kiely.

The Benhaffaf twins in the news as babies

“I spent that last night with them as conjoined twins scared to sleep. I held them in my arms all night because I didn’t know if we would ever see them again,” Angie previously told the Irish Examiner.

However, the boys left intensive care in record time after the surgery and the family was able to return to Cork within months. The boys have had over 50 surgeries since and will turn 12 this December.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of their separation surgery, the boys set themselves the challenge of climbing a huge indoor rock wall for the TV documentary.

Because it was made during the pandemic, the family did a lot of the filming themselves and had to follow strict Covid-19 guidelines. Hassan also had to deal with a broken shoulder right before the climb.

According to their mum: “Every opportunity they have they amaze me. They are fantastic at their sports. They want to be Paralympians. They are mad training at their athletics. They do wheelchair basketball. They do swimming with their scoliosis group. They do this on one leg.”

Many of those who have been following the boys’ inspirational story since birth will be watching on Monday. Maybe their friend Tom Hanks, who sent them a personalised Toy Story-inspired video back in 2019, will even catch up online.