Agatha Emeadi
Faithful and Favour Shobowale-Davies were Siamese twins conjoined at the stomach at birth at the popular Island Maternity Hospital on Lagos Island, in July 2003.
But they were successfully separated at Johns Hopkins Hospital Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America courtesy of the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Today, Faithful is the Head Girl, while Favour is the Health Prefect of their school, Rose Valley High School in Agege, Lagos State.
Being fully aware of their conjoined and separation story, Faithful aspires to be a medical doctor while Favour wants to be a registered nurse. Both are lead singers and prime debaters in their school.
Mrs Kikelomo Shobowale-Davies is the mother of the conjoined twins and she opened up to Sunday Sun on the circumstances and birth of the conjoined twins.
At what point did you discover you were carrying conjoined twins?
I did not know I was carrying conjoined twins all through my ante-natal stages with that pregnancy. The three different scans I went through did not detect the conjoined babies. But I knew they were twins, but not conjoined ones. I have delivered two older normal babies before the twins came. Sometime in early July 2003 when I was working with a private establishment then, as I walked around, I had pains with swollen leg; I went to see a doctor and was given a bed rest because of high Blood Pressure (BP). My doctor observed me and gave me a referral letter to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH). I would not know the content of my referral letter, but when I got there, there was no bed space and we moved to Island Maternity immediately, though it was late in the night. On check, my BP reduced, but I was not in labour yet. I was given a bed where I slept and was relocated to the ward in the morning. After a while, my delivery was slated for Thursday of that week, but on Wednesday prior to Thursday, I ruptured my membrane and labour started that evening. Some doctors who were not my regular doctors came around and checked me, from their discovery, they asked me to walk to the labour ward that same evening where they suggested that I would not be able to push the two babies; rather would have a Caesarean Section (CS). It was at the point of delivery through CS that my conjoined twins were discovered by a team of gynaecologists at Island Maternity. My doctor was Dr Eni Ayewu who would have delivered me on my clinic day, but because of my condition, another team of doctors delivered me. My babies were not premature at delivery, they were nine months old. The Chief Medical Director of Island Maternity then, Dr Majekodunmi and all doctors took it in turns to attend to us because of the Siamese nature of my twin daughters, including Dr Emokpai who is the CMD of Gbagada General Hospital now.
How did you receive the news of your conjoined babies?
After the surgery, I was still under the influence of the anaesthesia and when I was a bit stable, the doctors came and told me that my babies were umbilically conjoined. They brought them for me to see how they were co-joined. The moment I set my eyes on them, as a Christian who believes absolutely in God; I prayed over their lives and simply left God to perfect the remaining miracle because there was nothing I could do at that point. But as soon as the news broke in the hospital, people said all sort of things, but it did not disturb me. I only reacted with prayers in my heart to reject all negative vibes, especially when I heard that if they must live, one will surely die to support the other. I told my God in prayers that the two of them will live their separate lives successfully. Still at Island Maternity, I would go to their special room where they were kept to sing and pray along with them; both will be very calm as if they were listening. My contact Bible version for them comes from Psalm 138, verse 8, after which, I will carry the two together and breast feed their separate mouths, then rock them to sleep as tender as they were.
Did your heart skip when you saw them conjoined?
I did not have any fear at all and my heart did not skip. The day I delivered them, God was with me and sent helper immediately. The then Commissioner of Health, Dr Leke Pitan, came to the hospital unannounced, he was going home, but decided to branch to the hospital to catch a glimpse of what was happening around the hospital. The commissioner was at the reception area exchanging pleasantries with the nurses when the news of the Siamese twins was broken to him. He said, ‘really, the governor would definitely hear this. The governor then was Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Dr Pitan instructed that my husband who went to pick some things for us should wait for him the next day. As he rightly said, Dr Leke Pitan informed his Excellency who came the next day with his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu and his entourage. Island Maternity was filled up with dignitaries. Asiwaju came to me like a father and reassured my husband and I that through the mercy of God, my children will survive. He told me, my conjoined twins have become the case for Lagos State government to prove that the government is for the people. That was how he took up the case and facilitated our travelling to America for their separation.
Arriving the United States of America
We travelled in August in the company of my husband, many hand-picked doctors from various hospitals in Lagos, including Island Maternity and LASUTH. Asiwaju sponsored all of them to go out and learn how to perfect such act without losing one of the twins. We arrived into the warm embrace of Dr Ade Tinubu who is Asiwaju’s nephew where we spent three months in the United States. My babies were born in July in Nigeria, we travelled in August and their surgery was scheduled for September 11, remembrance of the burnt World Trade Centre by a terrorist, Osama Bin-Laden. Asiwaju handed us over to his nephew, young Tinubu, and he received and treated us excellently. He made all the necessary arrangements in John Hopkins Hospital; our accommodation and feeding and upkeep were catered by Tinubu junior. While the Americans were remembering the anniversary of WTC, we were praying for the successful separation of our girls.
How did you carry them on the long flight to the US?
The airline brought a bigger baby car seat where both were carried on. They were special babies, so their travelling evoked a lot of empathy from the airline operators and passengers. Intermittently, I would breast feed them together until we landed.
D-Day, the surgery day
The appointed day was September 11, 2003 and we arrived early enough at Johns Hopkins Hospital, non-profit academic medical centre located in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The morning before their surgery, world renowned Neuron-surgeon, Dr Ben Carson came to see us, asked the doctors some questions towards the separation. He looked at them and nodded his head in agreement that the team would do a great job. There were a team of 40 medical personnel’s headed by Dr Colombany and Dr Lau from the Chinese descent. They were shared into two groups. Team ‘A’ consisted of 20 members likewise Team ‘B’. Team ‘A’ wore green outfit while team ‘B’ wore blue outfit. When we got there, I prayed and had the confidence that both will come out alive, I held unto my faith strongly. Our General Overseer, Pastor Adeboye gave us words of faith and charged us to go and come back successfully. My husband and I were kept at the reception point and waited for the surgery that took eight hours. We became cynosure of all eyes, some prayed with us, some spoke words of encouragement, and we looked up to our maker who answered our prayers. Eight hours exactly, Dr Colombany announced the successful separation of the babies as he hugged and congratulated us. The babies were labelled accordingly with Team ‘A’ uniform and ‘B’. Faithful was team ‘A’s duty while Favour was baby for Team ‘B’. It was anaesthetic that took about 5-6 hours in the theatre; but their separation was done under two hours. The used two different uniforms to avoid mix up or mistakes. As soon as the medical team were done with the surgery, all the members of the two different teams that included surgeons, anaesthetics, senior and junior medical doctors, matrons, nurses all moved quickly and smartly with their baby in their uniform and headed to different Intensive Care Units (ICU). The doctors asked my husband to go with team ‘A’ while I went with Team ‘B because both babies were on oxygen for 48 hours. I saw great-team-spirit at work. Everybody knows what to do at a particular point. All equipment was set. In the twinkling of an eye, whatever the doctor needs is ready; it was a very serious matter and they needed to succeed which was the reason they embraced one another at the successful separation. All conversations were done in kind low tunes. There was no disagreement whatsoever. The expertise, human feeling and speed which the teams operate is the reason people travel abroad when they are sick. Within two-three days, my babies were moved from ICU to their different wards where different nurses were assigned to attend to them permanently. The nurses provided a breast pump for me to extract breast milk for them, when I do, the nurses do the feeding. They would ask me to produce 10mm of breast milk; both will finish theirs and cry for more. Doctor Colombany asked me to give them more if they can tolerate it, I gave more because their system were accepting the food. They were only fed with breast milk all through their stay in ICU and some weeks in the ward before we introduced formula. The greatest miracle was that the surgery was done for free of charge.
Mr Shobowale-Davies speaks…
I have not experienced Siamese twins before, but God is awesome. I simply believed that God will have his way because there is a reason they came to us; and that purpose shall be fulfilled. Stories like maybe their mother went to a particular place or an arrow was shot to her and all sorts of things. I said Lord, you are the one they are talking to, glorify yourself. At times, when I walked to the market to pick things for them, people will be pointing at me, this is the father of the conjoined twins. When I look back today, I praise his name because every step taken was by divine arrangement. I do not know Dr Leke Pitan from anywhere talkless of His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu who God used to perfect the miracle. Nobody called Dr Leke Pitan that day to come around. Probably, the spirit ministered to him that there is a case you need to threat at Island Maternity now. I am saying this because he was supposed to go home and rest for the day’s work; instead he came back to the hospital to see thing for himself. When he came around, I was not there, my wife told me what transpired and that he left a message that I should not go to anywhere the next day, that as he is leaving his house, he will come to the Island Maternity first to see us. So, I suspended everything I needed to do that morning and waited for him. Early enough, he came around and told me, “do no worry, the state governor is aware and will show up. They government did show up impressively and we remain ever grateful. I got information that there were once in a while cases of Siamese twins and some were in the laboratory for experiment, I said in my mind that these ones are special children.
Have you had a case of Siamese twins in your various families?
Never have we seen in both families. But I also gathered that when the egg is not fully divided, it might result into Siamese twins, which might come at the umbilical end. It is very common among the identical baby girls. Though there are cases of twins in my family, but not conjoined.
The ‘miracle couple’ called Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and wife Senator Oluremi Tinubu
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife Senator Oluremi Tinubu were the executive governor and First Lady of Lagos State then. They were the vessels God used to save my children. It was Asiwaju who facilitated our trip to the United States. From our international passport to visa application, to all that concerned that trip, Asiwaju was responsible for all that and picked all the bills. While we were still on Island Maternity; his wife Senator Oluremi Tinubu was coming regularly to visit us with various special gifts. Asiwaju’s nephew, Dr Ade Tinubu did all the running around before our arrival to the US. He was also responsible for our upkeep all through our stay in America. While we were there, Asiwaju visited us in the company of his commissioner then, Rauf Aregbesola after the babies were successfully separated and blessed them financially. When we came back, Asiwaju and his wife received us. That was when he showered us with extra love; he gave us this house, gave us a car to drive the children round, they are a couple with the heart of gold. His stretched his arms full of kindness towards us. We took off from our home in Shasha, a surburb of Alimosho LGA, in Lagos State and returned into an estate with a brand new car when we arrived Nigeria from US. The doctors he sponsored alongside with us returned to their various hospitals and there was big improvement in the health sector in the state. The children’s first birthday was celebrated at the state house courtesy of big mummy Senator Oluremi Tinubu.
Back home, has there been any health challenge pertaining to their separation?
No, we have not experienced such. Nothing has happened to them. They were separated and the wound healed normally. There was no skin grafting. You can only see healed mild stitches around that area. It did not affect their behavioural change; they grew like every other child. The Lord perfected their health according to the word His Excellency gave us in Psalm 138 verse 8. We have had no cause to run around after 16 years of a perfect surgery.
How did your paths cross?
We grew up together in Abeokuta. Our mothers had business relationships and we found attraction between ourselves, made our intentions known and walked down the aisle. We know ourselves too well; we know where we are coming from and our backgrounds. We have love and dream for each other. Our being husband and wife is just divine. We have no cause to quarrel.