Yemen: desperate appeals to save conjoined twins

Conjoined twins Yousef and Yassin, who were born joined at the head in Hadhramaut, have suffered major difficulties to have normal lives, especially after their impoverished family failed to secure help for them.

Seven months after birth, the twins are still stuck in a gravely exhausting condition.

A reporter from Yemen Shabab visited the home of the twins in the Taris area of ​​Say’un city, capital of Wadi Hadhramaut and the Sahara. He found the toddlers lying on their backs, opposite to each other, on the floor of a room without furniture.

Because they are joined at the head the twins are unable to move in any direction, except for raising their hands in the air. Neither of them had the ability to sit or crawl like any child at this age. When Yassin hears the voice of his brother Yousef coming from behind, he tries in vain to turn around or roll over, while Yousef feels the pressure on his neck due to his brother’s attempt to move, so he starts screaming and crying helplessly.

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Samar Yahya, the mother told Yemen Shabab that she feels deeply distressed for her two boys. She said that feeding her two children milk and biscuits agonises her, as it quickly comes out of their nostrils due to their inability to burp.

Yousef and Yassin need to undergo surgery to end their misery; however, this procedure is considered extremely risky and cannot be performed in Yemen.

According to the twins’ grandfather, Yahya Ahmed, the King Salman Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has the most competent specialists to perform the procedure.

The family has launched an appeal to the Yemeni Government and authorities in Saudi Arabia to rescue the twins.

“Our passports and luggage are ready and we are only waiting for a travel date,” said the grandfather, noting: “Hopefully it will not be too late, given the fact that the children’s condition is worsening every day.”