Separated Bhutanese twins recovering well in Australia

Published On: November 13, 2018 10:14 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

This photo provided by RCH Melbourne Creative Studio, shows the 15-month-old girls before surgery at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, Australia Friday, Nov. 9, 2018. Surgeons in Australia have begun separating the conjoined twins from Bhutan in a delicate operation expected to last most of the day. (RCH Melbourne Creative Studio via AP)

KATHMANDU, Nov 13: A 15-month-old formerly conjoined twins were recovering well in an Australian hospital after last week's operation to separate them -- although according to hospital staff they still preferred to stay close by, international media reports said on Tuesday.

"They've been lying together in the same bed," Melbourne Children's Hospital spokeswoman Julie Webber was quoted as saying by Xinhua News Agency. "The nurses placed them together, they were getting a bit restless -- they were reaching out for each other, putting their legs across each other as they did when they were joined," Webber said.

According to Webber, the girls from Bhutan, Nima and Dawa from Bhutan, were doing "extremely well" and were clapping, tugging each others' hair, and eating solids. The operation to separate the girls, who were joined at the stomach and shared a liver, took a team of 25 surgeons, nurses and anesthetists 6 hours to complete, Xinhua said in its report on Tuesday.

Before returning to Bhutan, the girls will continue rehabilitation in Australia at a facility run by the Children First Foundation who initiated the undertaking, the report added.