One year after Mumbai’s first Siamese twins were successfully separated in a six-hour-long pathbreaking surgery, one of them is fighting for her life.
One year after Mumbai’s first Siamese twins - Aafreen and Farheen Sheikh - were successfully separated in a six-hour-long pathbreaking surgery, one of them is fighting for her life.
Diagnosed with congenital heart disease, Aafreen requires urgent surgical intervention. “We have consulted several cardiologists. They say she will survive only if she undergoes heart surgery,” said Nasir Sheikh, 32, father of the twins.
But there is a problem. The Sheikhs cannot afford even the medicines Aafreen is required to take, let alone the high cost of surgery. Sheikh, who previously drove an auto rickshaw, has been out of work for almost a year.
With no income, the family was unable to pay the rent for their hutment at a Vartak Nagar slum in Thane. “We vacated it and shifted to my aunt’s house,” said Afsana, mother of the twins.
When Aafreen and Farheen were born in March 2006 at Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar, they shared 50 per cent of their livers, three main arteries and their kidneys.
It took six months of research and fund gathering by Dr Sanjay Oak, paediatric surgeon and dean of Nair Hospital, and his team of five surgeons, six anesthetists and six nurses to separate the conjoined twins. Post-surgery, Aafreen was diagnosed with a hole in her heart.
She was referred to various cardiologists, all of whom demanded hefty sums for the surgery, said Nasir. “We were sent to a medical institute in Bangalore, then to Hinduja Hospital and last month, we took her to a hospital in Meerut. All the cardiologists said surgery was required at the earliest, but without funds it would be impossible,” said Nasir.
“When the twins were born, former BMC commissioner Johny Joseph had promised to allot me a rickshaw. But one-and-half years later, I am yet to find a way to earn a living,” said Nasir.
“Aafreen suffers from pulmonary stenosis and severe degree pulmonary hypertension. This makes her a very high risk patient,” said Oak.
“We consulted many cardiac surgeons, who said it was too risky to perform a surgery on the patient,” added Oak. “As far as funds are concerned, we can raise them. But all the cardiologists were of the opinion that Aafreen might not be able to make it through the surgery.”
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}