NIGERIANS have once again lifted the nation’s image abroad, as three United States (U.S.)-based Nigerian medical doctors were among a team that successfully separated conjoined twins in a surgery that is now making waves among American media and the global medical world.
The recent 26-hour long historic surgery on the 10-month-old conjoined twins in a Houston hospital in Texas had one of the top surgeons in the team as Prof. Oluyinka Olutoye, and two other Nigerian female doctors.
The twins, Knatalye Hope and Adeline Faith Mata, were successfully separated on February 17 and 18. Speaking with The Guardian over the weekend, Olutoye, who is the Texas Children Hospital’s pediatric surgeon, said there were 12 surgeons, four anesthesiologists and eight nurses in the team.
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Reacting to the news, the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN), which represents about 1000 Nigerian churches in the U.S., said “the active inclusion of three distinguished Nigerian doctors in the history-making conjoined twins separation is another showcase of how outstanding Nigerians are impacting the American community positively.”
Olutoye is also the Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Fetal Centre and Co-Programme Director of Perinatal Surgery Fellowship Programme of the Baylor College of Medicine. He came to the U.S. in 1989 to pursue his post-doctoral studies before deciding to stay back.
Local U.S. media quoted the leader of the medical team, himself a pediatric surgeon and co-director of Texas Children’s Fetal Center, Dr Darrell Cass, as saying: “This surgery was not without its challenges with the girls sharing several organs systems.”
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