Their parents feared that 14-month-old Jadon and Anias wouldn’t live to see Christmas.
But now this sweet video posted by their mum shows that the boys are better than doctors expected.
Surgeons successfully separated the twins in October after they were born with a rare condition known as craniopagus twins. The boys, from Chicago, were joined at the crown of the head. Their parents, Nicole and Christian McDonald, insisted they were perfect just as they were but decided to go ahead with the risky operation in a bid to give the boys a better quality of life.
Mum, Nicole says Anias is recovering slower than his twin brother and he continues to struggle with seizures and infections but their surgeon Dr Philip Goodrich says the brothers are a force of energy for each other and you can see what he means in the most recent video their mum posted online.
She commented online this week:
“My heart has to keep growing to fit all the love you create inside of me”
The operation cost two and a half million dollars and took over 16 hours. The surgical team had spent months practicing their methods on a 3D model of the boy’s head. When their mum finally got to hold her son after the operation she spoke emotionally about what her family had been through:
“For over 13 months, I’ve dreamed of this moment. I looked down at Jadon’s angelic face and saw him in a way I’d never seen him before. He whimpered for almost the whole two hours I held him because he had just been extubated, had the area under his scalp washed out and had been weaned from the good pain meds. But instead of wrapping my body around him in his bed, I wrapped my arms around him and rocked. One of the most profound moments of my life.”
The family have set up a GoFundMe page which will help them with the costs associated with the procedure and beyond.
We wish these adorable boys all the very best.
