Abigail Loraine Hensel (Abby)(right) and Brittany Lee Hensel (Britty)(left)
Do you know who they are ??
- They are Dicephalic Parapagus twins ( Dicephalic means two heads and Parapagus means shared pelvis with side by side fused.)
They were born on March 7, 1990 in Carver County, Minnesota with two heads and joined bodies but several vitals organs are doubled such as heart, stomach, spine and spinal cord. Their mother Patty is a nurse and father Mike Hensel is a carpenter and landscaper. They have a younger brother named Dakota , a younger sister named Morgan, and a dog named Sadie. - Organs Distribution
2 heads, 2 spines and spinal cord merges at coccyx , 2 arms ( at birth they have 3 arms and one rudimentary arm removed by surgery), 1 rib cage with 2 fused sternum, 2 breasts, 2 hearts , 4 lungs, 1 diaphragm, 2 stomachs, 2 gallbladder, 1 liver , 1 Y shaped small intestine, 1 large intestine with one colon, 3 kidneys and 1 bladder , 1 set of reproductive system, 2 legs. - Each of them controls half of the body. They learnt simultaneous coördination in activities like clapping, crawling, running, swimming and walking but they can write and eat separately. They can even drive a car and already got driving license after passing both written and practical driving tests. Abby controls the pedals, radio, heat, defogger, and other devices to the right of the driver’s seat, while Brittany controls the turn signal and lights and together they control the steering wheel.
- The twins have different personality with distinct likes and dislikes. Abigail is better in mathematics and Brittany is better at writing. For tasks such as answering e-mail, they type and respond as one, anticipating each other feelings with little verbal communication between them. In such cases as this, their choice of grammatical person is to use the first person singular habit which they agree, but when their responses are different, they use their names in the third person singular.
- Abigail’s head tilts laterally outward about 5 degrees to the right while the Brittany’s head tilts laterally about 15 degrees to the left, causing Brittany to seem shorter. At 12, they underwent surgery in a specialized health care centre (Gillette Children) to correct scoliosis and expand their chest cavity to prevent future breathing difficulties. Their parents rejected the idea to completely separate them as it would cost one life.
- They attended in Lutheran High School in Mayer, Minnesota and graduated in 2008. They are studying now at the University at Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Despite the media’s curiosity , the Hensel twins have managed to lead a private life. In April 2006, they appeared in Joined Cases for Life (Discovery Health-television documentary). Appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show on April 8 and April 29, 1996. In April 1996, the twins were featured on the cover of Life under “One body, two souls,” and their daily lifestyle was depicted in the article entitled “The Hensel’s summer “. Life followed up with another story in September 1998. In 2003, an updated story of them at age 11 (filmed in 2001) was published in time and again in life. They appeared in a documentary on The Learning Channel on Dec. 17, 2006 filmed at the time of their 16th birthday. In summer 2006, they spent a vacation in Texas at a home of a family whose twin dicephalus daughters died . Recently TLC TV channel recorded a documentary about their life and it will be aired on 28 th august.
- Concern
Till now only 4 cases survived up to adulthood who were Dicephalic Parapagus twins and most of them died due to congenital heart defects or abnormalities of other organs. But this wonders haven’t any problem and they believe that they will live a happy married life with a cute baby.
Photos
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