Tragedy of Cape’s conjoined twins

A baby boy is in a fight for survival after his conjoined twin died while still attached to his back.

Now his Cape Town family are praying their little boy survives a risky operation to separate him from his dead twin.

The twins had two heartbeats but only one has a fully-formed head.

The attached twin, a girl, has one arm and one leg.

Together they weigh a tiny 2.1 kilograms.

Mother of two Mershell Wallace, 25, never knew she was carrying conjoined twins up until she gave birth last Monday.

The chances of conjoined twins being born are 1 in 100 000.

The Ottery mom simply thought she was having a premature baby when she went into Groote Schuur hospital for a Caesarean section.

But when doctors delivered her newborn, it was clear this birth was something special.

Instead of one baby, Mershell saw that her son had a deformed twin attached to his back.

But sadly, six days after birth, the infant girl passed away at Red Cross Children’s Hospital.

Now there is a medical battle on to save the life of the tiny nine-day-old surviving boy.

Relatives say international surgeons have been flown in to perform the marathon operation at Red Cross Children’s Hospital later this week.

But the poor family, who live in the Ottery Flats, are now desperate for financial help.

“When I was pregnant, they said at Retreat Day Hospital that I was going to have a boy baby and that his heart beat was very weak,” recalled mom Mershell.

“But when they performed the Caesarean, they said there is a boy but another baby attached to his back.

“The other baby’s heart beat was weaker and she felt very soft.

“I was in such a shock and all I wanted to do was hold my children.

“The girl’s leg was moving and there was hair at the piece of flesh which was her head, but no face.

“There is also something that resembles a nipple or an ear near the head.”

Mershell was unaware of how rare her set of twins were until it became public at the hospital.

The people told me it is something very rare and that it hardly happens in the coloured community, she told the Daily Voice.

Mershell is also mother to Merencia, six, and three-year-old Michael.

Grandmother Mary Jacobs, 46, was just as surprised at the rare set of twins born to their family.

She says Mershell has beaten the odds before when she survived a potentially fatal scorpion bite at the age of 11.

The incident left her with a deformed foot.

“She nearly died,” Mary told the Daily Voice.

“And now we got such a fright that a baby is attached to the boy’s back.

“We never knew there were two babies and that the one was deformed.”

Now the family is praying hard for a miracle.

Doctors are monitoring the boy’s health strictly before an operation can be carried out.

“The doctors explained to us in Afrikaans that they want to cut the corpse off to save the boy,” says the mom.

“But we are praying for a miracle because his blood pressure is high.

“They said they will operate this week.”

The infants’ father Marco Wallace, 32, is still in a state of shock and burst into tears when he heard the news.

“I didn’t know what to feel and I didn’t want to see the babies then,” he said.

Mershell explained that the trauma has left the family undecided about a name for the baby boy.

And they are also battling to make ends meet with skyrocketing hospital bills.

“I don’t have anything for the baby and we do not even have taxi fare to get to Red Cross Hospital,” the desperate mom said.

“If I sleep over at the hospital, it is R30 for a room.”

Relative Charmaine Josephs has asked all churches and religious leaders to join in prayer to spare the life of the currently nameless boy.

“God has a reason for everything,” she said.

“This came as a shock for the family but now we are asking for the churches and religious leaders to pray for this family and for the doctors and the baby that the operation will be a success.”

* Anyone who can assist the family with donations is asked to contact them on 072 666 6018 or deposit money into the following FNB account: Grassy Park, Mr Marco D Wallace, Account number: 621 025 753 07.

*This article was published in the Daily Voice

• Brave twin inspires parents