Two formerly conjoined twin sisters have arrived home in Bhutan after being separated in an operation in Australia.
Twenty-month-old Nima and Dawa returned on Thursday after a 22-hour flight from Melbourne with their mother, four months after their operation.
The girls had been born joined at the torso and shared a liver, and the sight of them walking independently for the first time sparked joy among family members.
The girls were separated by a team of 25 surgeons, nurses and anaesthetists in an operation in early November at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital that lasted almost six hours.
They recovered after the operation at a retreat run by the Children First Foundation, the charity which brought them to Australia.
Debbie Pickering, from the charity, said as they left Melbourne: “They’re much the same as when they were together.
Nima is said to be the outgoing sister, while Dawa is the quieter child.
“They are just developing into beautiful little girls,” Ms Pickering added. “They are delightful in every way.”
