Mumbai: The Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children, Parel, on Tuesday celebrated the fourth birthday of Ridhi and Sidhi Pawar, who were brought in as conjoined twins and separated at the hospital in January 2014. The birthday was celebrated in the nursing recreation room, with doctors, nurses, other hospital staff and fellow patients attending.
Ridhi and Sidhi have lived on the hospital premises since their family left them there. They begin their day at 5 a.m. with a call from their caretaker Shobha Gaikar, who has been in the hospital since their arrival. They go to the occupational and physiotherapy department around 8 a.m.
Mrs. Gaikar said that at 10 a.m., the twins go to Pratham School’s playgroup near the hospital, where they spend three hours. Once back, it’s time for lunch. A little rest, and then the girls spend time in the garden playing, cycling and in other outdoor activities. By 3 p.m., they go back to their room, where they do a little writing, drawing and colouring. It’s then time for an early dinner, after which the sisters go to sleep.
Dr. Minnie Bodhanwala, CEO at Wadia Hospital, said the girls had come to their hospital because no other hospital in Mumbai was ready to take up their case. “They came to our casualty department, and our doctors were thrilled about the case. They asked me — as they had no money for it — if they could take up the challenge, and I said yes.”
At the time, Ridhi and Sidhi were attached from the waist down, with a fused uterus and urinary bladder. Pratham, an NGO, had admitted them at the hospital three days after their birth in May 2013. They underwent a series of operations, and were surgically separated in January 2014 by paediatric surgeon Dr. Pradnya Bendre and a team of 14 doctors, Dr. Bodhanwala said.
Mrs. Gaikar, whom the girls call ‘mumma’, is with them all day. “They do not have their parents, so somebody needs to give them love and affection. I feel very bad for them, and treat them as a part of my family. I would love to see them become surgeons and operate upon other patients,” she said.
The twins’ biological mother, Shalu Pawar, who was expecting her third child in January 2014, left the hospital for the delivery and never returned.
Since they started going to the playgroup, the twins have learnt to eat by themselves, and mix well with other children. “They have learnt a few nursery rhymes, as well as basic numbers and alphabets. The two have a good grasping power,” Dr. Bodhanwala said. The twins are undergoing occupational and physiotherapy, and depending on their growth, they may need more corrective surgeries, such as bone reconstruction.
“They are very dear to all of us, and they have made a place in all our hearts. Being with us, they are a part of us,” Dr. Bodhanwala said.
