Emotional homecoming

IT WAS the moment they dreamt of but feared would never happen. After weeks of unimaginable stress, parents Angie and Azzedine Benhaffhaf enjoyed their happy ending as they brought their little fighters home to Ireland.

The couple beamed with relief as they stepped off an Air Corps aircraft at Cork Airport to an emotional homecoming — each cradling one of their twin sons, Hassan and Hussein, in their arms.

“Up Cork! Three cheers for the little fighters,” Angie shouted to family members who had gathered at the airfield’s perimeter fence to greet them.

Just six weeks ago, the five-month-old boys, who were born last December joined at the chest, were in intensive care recovering from a marathon 14-hour operation at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) to separate them.

But the boys, who have astonished doctors with the speed of their recovery, were discharged from GOSH yesterday morning and flown by the Air Corps home to Cork, with their parents, and sisters Malika and Iman on board.

The Casa aircraft touched down on runway 17 just after 2.15pm.

Azzedine was the first down the steps of the aircraft, cradling one of the twins, wrapped in a blanket. Angie followed with the other twin, beaming with delight.

Her sister, Shirley O’Leary, fought back tears and said the homecoming was like winning the Lotto.

“Angie and Azzedine are elated. They are bringing their boys back home. This is where they belong. There is where we want them,” she said.

The twins were then whisked by HSE ambulance under garda escort to Cork University Hospital for assessment. They are expected to be allowed home to Carrigtwohill within days.