Second twin Faith loses her month-long fight for life

Published on Friday 26 December 2008 20:34

CONJOINED twin Faith Will-iams has lost her battle for life, four weeks after she was born, it emerged yesterday.

Faith survived lengthy surgery to separate her from twin sister Hope but died on the afternoon of Christmas Day at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital "from the complexities of her condition".

The twins – who were joined from the breastbone to the top of the navel and had a shared liver but separate hearts – were born on 26 November. Hope died several hours after 11 hours of surgery to separate the twins on 2 December.

The surgery was said to be "one of the most complex and challenging operations" ever faced by surgical staff at the hospital.

Hope failed to survive the initial operation to separate her from Faith because her lungs were too small to support her breathing.

At that time Faith was given a 50-50 chance of survival.

Professor Agostino Pierro, head of the hospital's surgical team, said: "She (Faith) required the full range of skills of our intensive care staff, and underwent a number of further pro-cedures.

"However, she succumbed to the complexities of her condition."

Doctors had hoped the surgery could have waited until the girls became stronger, but the infants' deteriorating condition made it necessary for the surgical team to separate them. After the separation, Faith underwent surgery earlier this month to assist with her circulation.

"The aim was to ensure more blood flowed to her body and less through her lungs," a spokeswoman for the hospital said.

Faith then underwent heart surgery to close her chest.

The twin's parents Aled Williams, 28, and mother Laura, 18, from Shrewsbury, Shropshire, had kept a vigil at the girls' bedside. They also have an 18-month-old daughter, Carly.

Mrs Williams is Britain's youngest mother to give birth to conjoined twins.

The couple were warned by doctors that their babies might not survive after a 12-week scan revealed the problem, but they refused termination.

Conjoined twins occur once in every 200,000 live births, and their survival is anything but assured. The condition occurs when the single egg from which identical twins develop fails to divide properly after conception. About 40 to 60 per cent of conjoined twins are stillborn, and about 35 per cent survive only one day.

The overall survival rate for such twins is about 25 per cent.

The twins were delivered by Caesarean section at London's University College Hospital and then taken to Great Ormond Street – the most experienced centre in Europe for separating conjoined twins.

Prof Pierro added: "While this is a sad outcome, it is not an un-expected one. We were always clear that Faith was very sick."

A Great Ormond Street spokeswoman added: "Mr and Mrs Williams have asked us to say that they were very happy with the care they and their children received at Great Ormond Street."