News

Actions

Parents of previously conjoined twins from Franklin share story of tragedy

Posted at 5:24 PM, Feb 05, 2014
and last updated 2014-02-06 18:14:04-05

It was a surgery that will go down in history -- 6-month old conjoined twins from Franklin, A’zhari and A’zhiah, were separated last April at VCU.

Doctors expected the girls to live a happy and normal life. But the future their parents envisioned soon faded.

A few months after the surgery, A'zhiah was crawling and interacting with friends and family. But A'zhari was struggling to stay alive.

"The whole time she was having problems, she was still trying to fight and move around. She wanted to let everybody know she was alright." says the twins' father, Carlos Lawrence.

On October 14th, just four days after the girls' first birthday, A'zhari's heart rate fell so low that doctors told her mother it was only a matter of time.

"I just kept talking to her and kissing her and telling her everything was going to be okay and that she was going to be in a better place," says the twins' mother Nachell Jones.

For the first time, the twins' parents sit down to share their tragedy. Though separated forever, the girls' bond will never be broken.