‘Little fighters’ undergo tests

IRELAND’S conjoined twins underwent the first of several tests at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in London yesterday ahead of their separation surgery.

And true to their little fighter spirit, little Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf from Carrigtwohill in east Cork chose yesterday to laugh out loud for the first time.

Their mother, Angie, said admitting her 16-week-old boys to the hospital yesterday morning, and leaving them in the care of doctors, was one of the most difficult things she has done.

“I am heartbroken thinking about what’s ahead.”

But she said as she placed them on a hospital gurney, Hassan looked up at her, smiled, and laughed his “first proper laugh out loud.”

She asked the public to keep her babies in their prayers and to keep sending positive messages and cards.

“I’m going to fill the boys’ room with love,” she said.

The twins, Angie and Azzedine, and their sisters, Iman, 2, and Malika, 5, left Cork on Sunday on board a special Aer Corps flight

The boys were admitted to GOSH at 7am yesterday under the care of consultant surgeon, Dr Edward Kiely and underwent several routine tests and scans.

He will lead a specialist medical team to perform the complex 20-hour procedure on April 7.