KNH ‘Miracle Babies’ Turn Four

Blessing Kathure and Favour Karimi, the once-conjoined twins, later and nicknamed  ‘miracle babies’ after their landmark surgical separation last year have celebrated their 4th birthday.

The twins who were separated at Kenyatta National Hospital in November 2016 celebrated their birthday at St Teresa’s Mission Hospital, Meru, where they were born.

The birthday festivity was organized by St Teresa ’s hospital, bringing medics who had attended to the twins and curious members of the public together, to mark the celebration.

Speaking to the Daily Nation during the event, their mother Caroline Mukiri recounted the day she gave birth to the twins,

“I can vividly remember how I arrived at this hospital at 10 pm accompanied by my mother. The support from the doctors and the management enabled me to gather strength for the three years we lived at KNH.”

Medics the hospital also recounted their experience,

“We were excited when we saw the first ever conjoined twins in the hospital. It was a miracle that the delivery was normal. We wish them more years to come,” one Timothy Mbaabu shared.

The twins were born with their spines and lower back merged. In November 2016, they underwent a 23 hour surgical procedure with a team of 58 medical specialists and were discharged on June 15, 2017.

St Teresa’s CEO MaryAgnes Nkatha said the hospital would continue supporting the girls,

“I want to thank Ms Mukiri for her courage and standing by her children despite being abandoned by the father. We have a children’s home and we receive many babies abandoned by mother for various reasons. If Ms Mukiri did not stand by them, we could not have had the groundbreaking surgery at KNH.”