Separated conjoined twin dies due to dioxin effects

(08-10-2007)

HCMCITY — Nguyen Viet, a Vietnamese man born as a conjoined twin apparently due to the effects of Agent Orange that the US military used as a defoliant during the Viet Nam War, died Saturday at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, his relatives said. He was 26.

Bedridden due to suffering from brain fever before the twins’ separation surgery at age 7, Viet’s health had recently deteriorated. He suffered from pneumonia and abdominal bleeding, the relatives said.

Siamese Twins Duc and Viet were born joined together at the pelvis in 1981 in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai, an area that was heavily sprayed with Agent Orange by the US armies during the war.

The twins were successfully separated on October 4, 1988 at Ho Chi Minh City-based Tu Du Maternity Hospital by a team of 70 surgeons, professors and specialists. The fifteen-hour surgery was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1991.

After the surgery, each of the twins had one leg and Japanese experts provided Duc with an artificial leg, giving him more mobility.

His brother, Viet, suffered from cerebral paralysis caused by a medical condition that occurred before the separation.

Duc recovered from the operation and spent the following years growing up in Peace Village, a special ward for the infant victims of Agent Orange/Dioxin in the Tu Du hospital together with his brother.

Duc has done his utmost to overcome his illness and worked hard to have an independent life. He finished senior secondary school and is currently an office worker at the maternity hospital.

Last year, Duc married a female worker, Nguyen Thi Thanh Tuyen whom he met at a friend’s wedding party.

"I was shocked when they informed me of his death at 1:30," he said. "I used to wish that my brother would wake up one day despite his desperate condition. Now, I realise that my wish was impossible."

"I must live my life because of Viet, and try to realise what he could not have in his life," Duc said. "My brother sacrificed parts of his body so that I could live."

Duc and Viet are one of the numerous conjoined twins in Viet Nam, where the birthrate of conjoined twins is incredibly high. In Tu Duin 1986 alone, ten sets of conjoined twins were born. This phenomenon might be due to Agent Orange and other herbicides containing dioxin.

The Peace Village inside the Tu Du maternity hospital is the largest of such facilities in Viet Nam. It is located on Cong Quynh Street, in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 3. — VNS