25-Hour Miracle Stuns Surgeons

Josh Kline and Dontrelle Inman performing surgery with a medical team in an operating room — 25-HOUR MIRACLE SURGERY

Two-year-old twin girls joined at the head were safely separated in a 25-hour operation in St. Louis, and that simple sentence hides a saga of grit, planning, and precision that almost never goes this well.

Story Snapshot

SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital confirmed a successful separation in a February operation lasting about 25 hours.
The twins, Hiyab and Wuhbto, are two-year-old sisters from Ethiopia who were conjoined at the head.
Surgeons staged multiple complex procedures before final separation on February 24–25, 2026.
Both girls moved to separate beds and began rehabilitation after surgery.

What The Hospital Confirmed And When

SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital announced in September that its team separated craniopagus twins—children joined at the skull—during a February operation that ran about 25 hours from start to finish.

The hospital named the girls as Hiyab and Wuhbto and said the separation took place February 24–25, 2026. The team described this as one of the most complex and rare procedures done in the United States, and that framing fits the medical record on how seldom these cases can move forward.

Two-year-old conjoined twin sisters saw each other face-to-face for the first time after a successful 24-hour surgery to separate them. Their parents were unable to get visas to travel to the U.S. as their daughters prepared for this life-changing operation, but the hospital says… pic.twitter.com/9pQ4ZqNWLd

— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) September 18, 2026

Hospital leaders linked the result to long planning and tight teamwork. Dr. Andrew White said the work demanded precise coordination across many specialties and partner institutions.

Reports from the announcement echo that account, with several outlets noting the extended duration and the focus on careful sequencing inside the operating room.

The Girls, The Pathway, And The Plan

Public accounts identify the sisters as two-year-old Ethiopian girls who came for care that spanned months and included a series of preparatory surgeries before the last step in late February. One outlet quoted the hospital as saying the team completed six complex neurologic and reconstructive operations before the final separation.

After separation, caregivers moved the girls to separate beds and began recovery and rehabilitation. Reports say they later continued therapy at a pediatric rehabilitation hospital, which is standard for this kind of case where motor, speech, and sensory systems need careful support.

The National Institutes of Health literature shows that early rehab can help function, even when progress is uneven between twins. That is why the team’s work does not end when the operating room lights go down; it shifts to months of daily steps that build on the surgical win.

Why This Operation Stands Out In The Record

Craniopagus separation sits at the edge of what modern surgery can do. The New England Journal of Medicine places mortality near one in four in published series, underscoring the stakes and why teams avoid shortcuts.

A systematic review over three decades found better outcomes when surgeons stage procedures and operate under controlled conditions, not emergencies. The St. Louis team followed that playbook: plan for months, operate with many hands, and manage recovery with structured rehab.

🔴 Ethiopian twins separated after 25-hour surgery at St. Louis hospital

Two-year-old girls Hiyab and Wuhbto, born conjoined at the head in a condition called craniopagus affecting fewer than 6% of conjoined twin cases, were surgically separated in February at SSM Health… pic.twitter.com/18ZgoYN8Xs

— NewsTongue (@NewsTongueX) September 18, 2026

Most of us will never see the kind of map these surgeons build. They study venous channels that carry blood from each brain. They expand scalp tissue to allow closure after separation. They choreograph anesthesia, blood banking, neuro-monitoring, and plastic reconstruction to the minute.

When hospital officials highlight “meticulous attention to detail,” that is not spin; it is the difference between life and loss in a field where small errors can be fatal. The American instinct to reward expertise and teamwork is well placed here.

The Road Ahead For Hiyab And Wuhbto

The girls’ story has chapters left to write. Early updates focused on separation, stable recovery, and therapy milestones. That is the right sequence. The literature shows outcomes can diverge between twins, and gains often come step by step over months and years.

The St. Louis case already reached a rare marker—safe separation after months of staged work. If steady rehab follows, the path forward can open wide. Families and clinicians know this is a marathon, and this operation secured the chance to run it.