'They have beaten all the odds': Cork's Benhaffaf twins graduate from primary school
Formerly conjoined twins who were given a minimal chance of survival thanked their teachers and their mum “who never gave up” as they graduate primary school on Tuesday.
Angie Benhaffaf said that “in her wildest dreams” she barely imagined her miracle boys getting to this point.
“There was a 70% chance we would all die when I was giving birth to them,” Angie said. “But I couldn’t give up on them.”
Hassan and Hussein Benhaffaf were conjoined at birth, connected to each other from chest to pelvis, sharing some vital organs and having one leg each.
When they were four months old, a team led by Cork-born surgeon Edward Kiely spent 14 hours intricately separating the babies in Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Some 65 surgeries later, the boys, now 13, have represented Ireland in sport and aim to be Paralympians.
They will compete at the Disabled Sports England championships in Coventry in two weeks.
Speaking in a pre-recorded video from the stage in Midleton Educate Together National School in east Cork, Hassan said:
If it wasn’t for my mum I would not be standing on this stage.
“She has helped me reach milestones not a single person on this planet thought would be possible. And that’s because she didn’t give up, not on me, not on the world, not on anyone. She is the most loving, caring person.”
Mrs Benhaffaf said that she was “the proudest mum in Ireland” to see them graduate. She said:
"I love how they grab life by the horns and make their own dreams come true. They teach us all a lot."
Only 30% of conjoined twins are male and 2% of them survive, Mrs Benhaffaf said.
“They have beaten all the odds that were constantly stacked against them."
“From my 12 week scan, when I was told they were conjoined and probably would not survive, if it cost me my last breath I was going to have them. I have strong intuition and I just imagined that someday it would come right.”
“I always told them that the world was waiting for them.”
Despite having one leg each, the twins are adept climbers.
When they first arrived in their wheelchairs to Awesome Walls indoor climbing centre in Cork, people stared, their mother said. But their jaws dropped when the boys scaled the climbing walls “like Spider-Man’, faster than able bodied children.
“They have always pushed themselves and said that their lives are not going to be confined to these [wheel] chairs,” she said.
Their “wicked” sense of humour has also helped them triumph over adversity.
When children ask where their leg is, I’ve heard them say that a shark bit it off in Florida! Or that their mum ran out of food so used it for a Sunday roast! The other kids were terrified!
“That humour is hilarious but it also gives them this strength to own their disability.
The boys asked to dedicate their graduation to their two special needs assistants, Ewa Plichta and Niamh Brown who have been instrumental in helping them thrive in school, they said.
“I will miss them terribly but I am so excited for their next journey. They’re ready to go. They’re going to fly it in secondary school,” Niamh Brown said.
“We’re so lucky to have spent this time with them. It isn’t everyone who gets to work with kids who are one in a million.
“Many people might initially label them as disabled, but the boys will then run rings around them. They are differently abled, not disabled really.”
Facilitating differently abled students, promoting integration and inclusion, is beneficial for the entire school community, Ms Brown and Ms Plicta said.
The boys will move to Carrigtwohill Community College in September.
Ms Brown and Ms Plichta said that the school will soon find that boys will defy expectations and contribute so much to school life.
“They’ve achieved so much over the last eight years. They have become so independent. They are very inspirational,” Ms Plichta said.
“Sometimes, they are way more able than the other kids. They’re great at climbing, they love swimming, they really love basketball. They’re really strong at para athletics.
I have learned a lot from them. They never moan or complain, even though they are in a lot of pain sometimes.
Ms Brown said: “ And they have such a positive attitude, they are willing to try anything.
“I bet we will hear about them in the future.”
