A big miracle - Mom says God did a huge one after conjoined twins separated

Two years ago, when THE STAR first met Iesha McMurray, she was tearful and emotional.

Just weeks earlier, she had given birth to her twins Azaria and Azora Elson but the infants were conjoined, a rarity in Jamaica. On Thursday, McMurray was tearful again, but this time it was tears of joy as her prayers have been answered. Her twins, now two years old, finally underwent separation surgery and are recovering.

"I am really speechless right now. I am very very very happy that the wait is over and the storm is over. God did a big one for me and them," McMurray told THE WEEKEND STAR.

The Elson girls were successfully separated at the King Abdullah Specialist Children's Hospital (KASCH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, marking the 67th successful separation in the renowned Saudi Conjoined Twins Programme (SCTP). The complex, nine-hour surgical procedure, completed by a specialised team of 26 surgeons and nurses supported by more than 90 multidisciplinary medical professionals, successfully divided the twins, who shared a liver with separate vascular systems.

Azaria and Azora, who were joined at the abdomen, were born via C-section on November 7, 2023. The duo had been admitted to the University Hospital of the West Indies until July when they were flown to KASCH where they were evaluated for three months. Those three months were extremely nail-biting for McMurray and the twins' father Odane Elson, who stayed behind in Jamaica to care for the couple's two older children. For McMurray, the separation operation was nothing short of a miracle.

"Everything is just a blessing. I was right there watching it live as the doctors performed the surgery. This is just really a big miracle for me. Just imagine, my girls will live their own separate independent lives," a joyful McMurray said.

"I want to thank everyone involved in making this miracle happen. I want to give a special thanks to the Saudi Arabia team for accepting my babies and performing this successful surgery," she added.

Dr Abdullah Al Rabeeah, head of the SCTP, adviser to the Royal Court, and supervisor general of King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre, explained the significance of this successful achievement.

"This separation surgery by the SCTP team is a miraculous milestone in a programme that is fully supported by the leadership of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The girls now have the best possible chance to live happy, fulfilling and independent lives, thanks to the dedication and compassionate care of many medical teams, together with the unwavering collaborative support of their family and extended communities, both locally and internationally," he said.