'Miracle' needed as twins face separation

Angie Benhaffaf said they need "just one more miracle" for her baby boys Hassan and Hussein to successfully recover from their "final battle".

The brothers, from east Cork in Ireland, were born in December at University College London Hospital.

Yesterday, a 20-hour operation to separate them began at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.

In a poem, Mrs Benhaffaf said she and her husband Azzedine felt cursed and cried so much when they were originally told during the pregnancy the boys may share a heart.

But their cries turned to tears of joy when "my little fighters were born" on December 2, she wrote.

"'The little fighters' is the name ye share/ You have earned it well, as you fought to be here/ Your final battle is getting near/ We are all behind you, so have no fear."

The Benhaffafs have relocated their entire family – including girls Malika, four, and Iman, two – to London for the operation and recovery.

The operation to separate the four-month-old boys is being led by Edward Kiely, a consultant paediatric surgeon from Cork, and involves a highly-experienced team of 20 medics – including paediatric surgeons, paediatric anaesthetists and plastic surgeons – working on a rota.

Expert cardiologists and support staff were also on standby for the procedure.

The boys were joined at the chest but did not share any major organs.