‘We hid our little fighters to protect their dignity’

THE parents of former conjoined twins Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf have admitted they used to hide their sons under a blanket before they were successfully separated.

Angie and Azzedine Benhaffaf, from Cork, said they went underground for six weeks after their miracle sons were born in order to protect their dignity.

They said that in the weeks after the boys were born at Cork University Maternity Hospital, they would conceal the twins under a blanket when they wandered down the corridor so nobody would see them.

Angie, 36, who has two other children, said: “This time last year we were hiding in CUMH in a tiny cubicle unknown to the world. We wanted everything for the boys from day one to be very dignified and very beautiful. So we hid for six weeks.

“When we used to spend time as a family, all six of us, in one of the bedrooms at CUMH, we used to have to put a blanket over the boys’ heads and sneak down the corridors to spend family time.”

But she said she eventually felt guilty concealing the twins from the rest of the world because although she wanted to protect them from prying eyes, she felt they had done nothing to deserve to be hidden away.

“That was killing us, so one day we decided we couldn’t go on like that, because we’d done nothing wrong. So we decided to take the bull by the horns and introduce the boys to the world.”

The former conjoined twins have made incredible progress since the successful operation to separate them took place at Great Ormond Street in London in April last year.

But parents Angie and Azzedine, who have two other children, say all their time is taken up with caring for the toddlers, who are each expected to have a prosthetic leg fitted later this year.

And they have been advised by disabled children’s charity Enable Ireland, where the boys undergo three-hour sessions three times a week, that the demands of looking after the 13-month-olds will be too great for the next five years for them to contemplate returning to work.

Angie, 36, said: “Our wish would have been for Azzedine to return to work, but the twins need 24/7 care still and it’s just the two of us on a day-to-day basis doing that.

“We have wonderful support with Enable Ireland in Cork and we have to continue doing physio and occupational therapy. They’re on a lot of medicines that have to be given at different times every day. So it’s kind of non-stop and we have to continue physio at home which is gruelling.

“Once the boys were separated, a lot of people thought that was it, but especially this year we’re after starting a whole new set of challenges.”

The twins’ father, Azzedine, said he’s frustrated at not working, but accepts that the welfare of his sons is his first priority.

“It’s been hell for me not working. Enable Ireland told me they can’t see me going back to work for the next five years because I have to watch the boys very closely. I’d love to be able to go back to work in the morning, because this job is very stressful. But my first priority is to look after the boys. It’s our responsibility and our duty and if we didn’t do it, who else would do it?”

Angie said she’s just finished writing a book on her little fighters, which she plans to launch in early April to mark the first anniversary of their successful separation.

But in an interview on The Brendan O’Connor Show on TV3 on Saturday night she said her first priority is to get the boys to sit up properly, a vital development if they are to be successfully fitted with a prosthetic limb each, after which the tots could take their first steps.

“Our aim now is that we get them to sit up properly. A big worry for the twins at the moment is that if the spine isn’t kept straight, scoliosis will form. We need to get them fitted with proper prosthetics for them which can only be got in America because of half the pelvis being missing. Some children can’t walk with prosthetics, but I feel these two will.”

However, Angie admitted the strain of the past year has taken its toll on her.

“It’s been so emotional. I felt I had to keep it together for the full year. It’s only in the past couple of months that I feel the cracks are showing in me. I’m so weepy the past few months and it’s just simply I’m sad for them. I want the best for them.”