Praying for one more miracle ahead of op

THE mother of Ireland’s conjoined twins has asked for “one more miracle” for her boys who undergo high-risk separation surgery in London tomorrow.

Angie Benhaffaf has written a poem for her ‘little fighters’, Hassan and Hussein, and said: “It’s what really came out from my heart.” In the poem, she describes the fear of discovering she was carrying conjoined twins, and how her daughters, Iman and Malika, got her through the dark times.

She also goes on to describe the joy of the birth last December and of hearing the twins cry for the first time.

Angie and her husband, Azzedine, spent last night with the boys in accommodation close to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

They are being supported by close family members who travelled to London yesterday.

Angie and Azzedine will hand their babies over to surgeons this morning for a range of pre-surgery checks.

The operation, which will be led by Cork-born consultant paediatric surgeon Mr Edward Kiely is due to get under way at 8.30am tomorrow. It could take up to 20 hours to complete.

“We have been overwhelmed by the genuinely supportive response of so many people since the announcement of the birth of our little fighters,” Angie said last night.

“Now as they face this critical operation we renew our appeal for everyone’s thoughts and prayers, especially tomorrow morning, which will help sustain our boys and our whole family at this most important time.”

The family, who have been in London for the last two weeks, have been fully briefed by Mr Kiely on the thorough preparations which have been made.

Angie and Azzedine have signed an exclusive deal with ITN and will not be giving further interviews until mid May.