Separated twins released from hospital

Salt Lake: Twin 4-year-old girls who were born fused at the mid-torso were released from a hospital, six weeks after separation surgery.

Kendra and Maliyah Herrin left Primary Children's Medical Center on Sunday in the arms of their parents and will continue recovering at home in North Salt Lake.

"Hey, everybody, it's us," Maliyah said as she emerged from the revolving door in the arms of her father, Jake Herrin.

"This is a huge day for us, going home," said Herrin, 26, standing next to wife Erin, 25.

"We can't believe it's here already. We've been dreaming of this day for a very long time," he added.

Their grandfather pulled the twins around the grounds in a red wagon while awaiting the family car.

A team of eight surgeons separated the girls, who were fused at the torso and sharing a pair of legs and critical organs, during a 26-hour operation that began August 7.

Doctors divided their liver, the bladders and pelvis, leaving each girl with one leg. Kendra kept their shared kidney. Maliyah is receiving dialysis in preparation for a kidney transplant.

The surgery is believed to be the first successful separation of conjoined twins who shared a kidney, according to Dr Rebecka Meyers, the hospital's chief of pediatric surgery.

At home, the girls will lie on special mattresses and need to have their bandages changed three times each week, a job that takes two hours for each girl, their mother said.

Maliyah also needs additional nutrition through a feeding tube and will undergo dialysis three times a week.

"We know that it's going to be tough taking care of them," Erin Herrin said, adding that the family will get help from visiting nurses. "But we know that it's better for them to be home and start a regular, normal life again."