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Twins Once Joined At The Head Grace Rotary Club

Twins_and_Group“The girls didn’t only survive, they thrived.”  

As Jenny Hull spoke to the Santa Clarita Valley Rotary Club on Wednesday, she consistently took pauses in order to gaze affectionately at María de Jesús (“Josie”) and María Teresa Quiej Álvarez, twins born conjoined at the head in 2001.  

Already faced with a challenging lifestyle, twins joined at the head run into even riskier developmental territory when separated. One or both twins may die as a result, and survivors are often left with mental or physical disabilities.  


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The twins were born in Santo Domingo Suchitepéquez in Guatemala on July 25, 2001. Understandably, the doctors in the small rural clinic were puzzled by what to do.  

Teresa_AlvarezChris Embleton, however, immediately grasped the type of attention the twins would need, and would receive, in America. Through her foundation Healing the Children (now Mending Kids International), Embleton was able to coordinate a surgery to separate the twins at Mattel Children’s Hospital at the University of California at Los Angeles under Dr. Jorge A. Lazareff.  

The girls are now 9 years old. Josie attends a mainstream elementary school where she is able speak and walk with the assistance of canes and some human supervision. Teresa’s progress, however, has been more of a struggle. While she can move her limbs, she has trouble interacting, and is unable to speak or walk.  

“Teresa’s had a really long road,” said Hull. “She is absolutely the light of our lives.” Hull added that Teresa continues to impress them, nevertheless. Although she didn’t respond to an episode of “Blues Clues,” Teresa recently looked transfixed while watching “Hannah Montana.”  

Hull, who is Josie’s caretaker, said hospitals in Seattle, Dallas and California rejected the surgery before UCLA agreed in 2002.  

“They said there’s a 100-percent vegetation rate.” Then, pointing to the girls with pride, “Do you consider that vegetation?”  

Josie_AlvarezA large part of the twins’ success story can be traced to Pediatric Therapy of Santa Clarita. There the girls spend a bulk of their week working with Program Director Lizabeth Bunkell, who treats the girls with a specialized form of therapy developed in Poland. Bunkell learned the practice from the Polish creators while studying in Michigan and has harnessed it toward unbelievable results in the twins.  

“I’m a great swimmer,” said Josie.  

Throughout the event, Josie consistently showered affection upon her sister, sometimes even speaking on her behalf.  

While Josie lives with Hull in La Cañada Flintridge, the twins’ older sister, Florie, raises Teresa in Valencia.  

“We looked all over the world for therapy,” said Hull.  

Although their situation is a tough one, the triumphs are more frequent than one would think.  

Josie recently had her first communion. Dave Reeves, a Rotary Club member, saw to it that she had a new set of canes for the occasion.  

Hull has high hopes that Josie will someday walk on her own.  

“I always ask people, ‘Have you ever seen a miracle?’ I say, ‘Now you’ve seen two.’ ”

 

 

Twins Once Joined At The Head Grace Rotary Club

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