Little fighters ‘all set for normal life’

TWINS Hassan and Hussein Benhaffhaf could be home within days to begin leading a normal life.

Care of the “little fighters” was handed over yesterday to paediatric experts at Cork University Hospital (CUH), led by Professor of Paediatrics Jonathan Hourihane.

The boys were examined upon arrival and consultant paediatrician Dr Deirdre Murray, who has been liaising with the medical team at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), said the boys are “healthy and very stable”.

“They have done extremely well,” she said.

“Their care will be very straightforward. We will be monitoring them and preparing them to go home with mum and dad to lead a normal life.”

It is expected the boys could be home in Carrigtwohill, Co Cork, within days.

Their recovery has stunned medics. Just six weeks ago, they were in intensive care in GOSH recovering from a marathon 14-hour separation operation led by consultant paediatric surgeon Mr Edward Kiely.

He deemed them well enough to be discharged yesterday.

The boys, their parents, Angie and Azzedine, and their sisters, Malika and Iman, were flown from London Stansted to Cork Airport on board an Aer Corps Casa twin turbo prop aircraft, piloted by Captain Mark Prendergast.

A medical team from GOSH was also on board to perform the medical hand-over to CUH.

It was the sixth air ambulance mission conducted by the Aer Corps in the last 72 hours — including five to Britain.

The aircraft touched down on runway 17 just after 2.15pm and it taxied to Stand 17, at the northern end of the airfield.

Then the moment Angie and Azzedine have longed for — they stepped off the aircraft each cradling one of their miracle boys.

The couple waved to family members who had gathered at the airfield’s perimeter fence to welcome them home.

The twins could he heard crying as the family thanked the Aer Corps crew.

Malika danced around the apron and shouted to her cousins at the fence while Iman slept, cradled in the arms of an Aer Corps crew member.

Angie’s sister, Shirley, who was behind the fence with her daughter, Sarah, 17, choked back tears to see her nephews home so soon.

“Nothing will ever compare to having the two boys home,” she said.

“Angie is overwhelmed with emotion. We all are. She’s bringing her boys home. It’s something she didn’t think she’d be doing.”

She said the family will spend the next few days relaxing and settling in.

“They have been through a huge amount of stress over the last 12 months.

“They need time to take in what’s happened. And then we’ll celebrate.”

Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin, who has been working in the background for the last six months to help and support the family, was at the steps of the aircraft to welcome the family home.

He kissed each twin and said one yawned while the other cried for food.

It has been an incredible journey for them, he said.

“I was on the tarmac the morning they left and we were wondering what would happen, and knew the challenges ahead,” he said.

“It is just so fantastic to see them arrive back healthy and in good form.

“It is a great day for the family, it’s a great day for Cork, and for all the people in the country who rallied behind them.”

And he confirmed that the family will not face any medical costs associated with the operation or air ambulance transfers.

The twins were then placed in a HSE ambulance and were immediately whisked, under Garda escort, to CUH where the GOSH team handed over care of the boys to the Cork medics.

Mr Martin paid tribute to Mr Kiely, and his team at GOSH, and the neonatal team at CUH who cared for the boys after their birth, and said the boys’ arrival home so soon after their separation operation is a tribute to the marvels of modern medicine.

He also praised Angie and Azzedine’s resilience and Hassan and Hussein’s brave spirit.

Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Dara Murphy, said he will host a special reception for the family in City Hall when the time is right.

“I am delighted they are home. It has been a difficult few months for the family and I have been in touch with Angie in recent days and I know they are delighted to be home,” he said

He plans to present the twins with two specially made Cork GAA jerseys.