Formerly Conjoined Twins Leave the Hospital After a Year
Formerly conjoined twins Jadon and Anias McDonald are finally coming home. After spending most of their nearly two first years of life in the hospital, the two boys finally get to be with their parents, under the same roof — without sharing the same head.
The sweet twins captivated the world last October when they underwent a separation surgery that lasted a whopping 27 hours. For these boys, who were 13 months old at the time, sharing a head meant also sharing 5 centimeters by 7 centimeters of brain tissue, which made an already difficult surgery even more complicated.
Amazingly, the surgery was successful. But just because the boys were physically detached didn’t mean that their challenging journey to health and happiness was over. No one knew that better than their devoted parents, Nicole and Christian McDonald, who were with them every step of the way.
“My kids have never been home separate,” Nicole said. “I’m so excited, I can hardly stand it. It feels like it’s not even real. We’ve never been home and each held a kid. It’s going to be awesome.”
“It’s almost like I get to be a dad to them for the first time,” Christian added.
After all the time they spent in the hospital, it’s little wonder why. Both boys suffered a series of seizures and infections since the surgery, which resulted in trips to the intensive care unit. They both also had to undertake extensive therapy. After all, being attached meant they had only ever known the world from lying on their backs, so they needed to learn to use basic muscles they never even knew they had.
But now that their kids finally get to leave, Nicole and Christian are ready to take on whatever step comes next — from specialized medical equipment to home nurses.
Both devout Christians, Nicole and Christian credit their faith in the monumental steps they’ve made so far — and the monumental steps still yet to come.
“Times like this really shows us that it is God’s help,” Christian said. “God works through people.”
Nicole agreed, saying, “This strengthened my faith. If I didn’t have God in my life, I would not have made it.”
What a beautiful story. Welcome home, boys!
h/t CNN
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