Mohamed and Ahmed were born as conjoined twins in December 2020, Sana’a, Yemen. The country, which has been affected by conflict since 2015, has humble medical capacities and has been witnessing a collapse in the health system, which makes it impossible for a separation operation to take place with high chances of success.
The case of the conjoined twins was quickly escalated to the local health authorities who in turn appealed to UNICEF to help give the twins another chance at life. UNICEF Yemen responded positively to the appeal pledging to do everything possible to transfer the twins outside Yemen where they can undergo the separation surgery.
UNICEF acted quickly to mobilize the resources for such a costly operation – which normally does not fall within the mandate of UNICEF – and to put in place all logistical arrangements for the mobilizations of the medical expertise, the air transfer, and the admission of the twins. On 6 February 2021, the twins and their parents boarded a special medical evacuation plane that took them from Sana’a to Amman, Jordan where the team of the Specialty Hospital was on standby.
After five months of medical preparations, Ahmed and Mohamed went through the major separation surgery on 3 July 2021. The surgery was attended by a team of 25 surgeons and specialists from all fields. Following the separation surgery, the twins’ condition was stable and improving day after day, as per the medical team.
Towards the end of November, the medical team confirmed that the twins are ‘fit to travel’ and gave them the greenlight to go back home.
Immediately, UNICEF initiated all the logistical arrangements for the return of the family to Sana’a.
On 2 December 2021, Mohamed and Ahmed returned to Sana’a on board of a special UN flight.
02-12-2021.
Formerly conjoined twins who underwent a successful separation surgery are back home in Yemen.
UNICEF says the twins were born last December and were joined at the chest and abdomen.
In July, doctors moved them to a specialty hospital in Jordan for separation surgery.
After months of recovering, the family has returned home.
The cost of the procedure was covered by UNICEF and private donors.
“I can’t express my feelings,” said the twins’ father, Yasser Albukhaity, in a press release. “There was a feeling of fear at the beginning, but we had great faith in Allah and in the medical team. Thank God the surgery was a big success. I want to thank UNICEF, the donors, the Yemeni Health Ministry, and all who provided help in this journey. I wish for them [the twins] to be educated like other children, to finish their higher studies, and to be of great benefit for their country in the future.”
