Two girls separated by surgeons in November last year continue their remarkable recovery and growth at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
During a visit on Tuesday, the two girls played with each other and gleefully ran around the paediatric ward.
Blessing and Favour, now two years and five months old, appear to have fully recovered, although they are yet to be discharged.
Their mother Caroline Mukiri had a difficult time controlling the girls who like scurrying around the pavements.
This is probably the first time in their life they can fully experience the joys of childhood.
The girls were joined at the sacral region of lower spinal cord when they were born on September 4, 2014.
A file photo of the twins conjoined at the hip when they were born in 2014. Doctors at KNH performed a surgery to successfully separate them on November 1, 2016. /FILE
They were referred to KNH soon after birth but underwent surgery at two years of age as their key organs had developed sufficiently, and they have enough muscle bulk to withstand an operation
The 23-hour surgery on November 1 was carried out by a team of more than 50 specialists from KNH and the University of Nairobi School of Health Sciences.
Read: KNH doctors separate conjoined twins in 23-hour operation
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The operation ushered Kenyan medical practice into new ranks, as it was the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa.
President Uhuru Kenyatta thanked the doctors, saying the entire country shares in the joy.
Doctors pose for a group photo after a 23-hour operation to separate conjoined twins ends successfully at KNH on November 2, 2016. /FILE
"We wish the twin girls a quick recovery and all the best as they embark on life," Uhuru said after the surgery.
"The joy of the mother, relatives and family friends of the girls is shared by the whole nation and beyond,” he said.
KNH has since kept the girls out of the limelight because the family wants them to enjoy a normal, quiet childhood just like other children.
Doctors say conjoined twins are rare and many are stillborn or die soon after birth.
The separation can be easy or difficult and delicate depending on the body organs involved.
The first successful separation of conjoined twins was performed in the United States in 1955 and there have been several others since that time.
Doctors say the separation of Favour and Blessing was difficult because the spine, buttock and pelvic muscles nerves, and gastrointestinal tracts were shared.
Therefore the approach had to be multidisciplinary as is usually the case in most separations.
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