A crying one-year-old boy
calms down the moment strains of a Tamil film song filter into the room.
Not that one can predict
baby behaviour, but this is completely surprising because the baby is from
Tanzania.
Meet Eluidi, one of the
separated Pygopagus twins from the African country. He and his twin Ericana
were conjoined at the end of the spine and shared vital organs. They were
separated in an 18-hour surgery on December 16, 2013, at Apollo Specialty
Hospitals, Vanagaram.
The twins, along with
their mother Grace, are all set to fly home on Wednesday morning after their
nine-month stay in the city. Tuesday was special as the twins celebrated their
first birthday at the hospital. This also marked their debut appearance in the
media.
In June, last year, Grace,
a resident of Kasumulu, a village in Tanzania, had brought the conjoined twins
to the hospital. Twenty doctors drawn from various specialities operated on the
twins.
In a video telecast on the
occasion, Eluidi was seen dancing, while lying on the bed, on a Tamil filmy
number ‘Fy fy fy kalachify’ from the Vishal-starrer ‘Pandiya Naadu.’ Ericana,
however, prefers western classical music.
“Eluidi also loves the
song, ‘Oodha colour ribbon.’ We have recorded the songs on a mobile phone and
play it for him. The twins are familiar with Tamil words and babble the word
‘amma’ for their mother, ‘akka’ for young nurses and ‘athai’ for elderly
staff,” said J. Santhi, nursing superintendent at the hospital.
Grace has also picked up a
few Tamil words. The twins also seem to like the essentially Tamil rice and
lentil dish.
Surgeons said the
Pygopagus twins are the fifth in the world and the first in the country to be
successfully separated. “They will come back after six months for a surgery for
some procedures,” said Venkata Sripathi, senior consultant paediatric
urologist.
The neurosurgeons will
check if the spine is straight and how the twins are moving their limbs. “We
will monitor them at least till they are four years old. We are co-ordinating
with doctors at Muhimbili Hospital at Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and will keep in
touch through telemedicine if required,” he said.
Prathap C. Reddy, chairman
of Apollo Group of Hospitals, said there are plans to make the Vanagaram
hospital paperless soon.
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