Dr God Also Behind Conjoined Twins Getting Their Own Bodies

Although it was a team effort of 23 doctors and 11 nurses that separated the conjoined twins in Betul, Madhya Pradesh, there was one doctor who was an inspiration to them all

By Francis Adams

  Aaradhana And Stuthi: The conjoined twins who were separated following the 12-hour surgery. (Pic courtesy: Daily Mail, UK)

Among the team of 23 doctors who successfully performed the rare 12-hour surgery separating conjoined twins Aaradhana and Sthuti, was Dr Albert Shun, who was called "Dr God" by the parents of two-year old Mackenzie Argaet from Canberra whose life he saved, in 2008, by using a ping pong ball .

                                          Dr God: Dr Albert Shun, centre, who performed the surgery.


Dr Shun, who has earned the reputation of a quick-thinking surgeon, is a transplant expert working with the Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney, Australia.

Ball Bearing:  The ping pong ball, whose outline can be seen on  the left of the radiograph (X-ray) image that was inserted into Mackenzie Argaet's body to stop the adult replacement liver from pressing against her arteries.




Mackenzie, who suffered from Biliary Artresia, a disorder that destructs the liver's bile ducts failed to get a child's replacement liver owing to the low donor rate prevalent in Australia. As a result, Dr Shun had no option but to use an adult sized liver to keep the child alive. The successful operation was a world first.

Why the Ping Pong Ball and What is Biliary Artesia?

Immediately after the operation, Dr Shun, who was preparing to sew Mackenzie up realized that the temporary sponge he was using as a backup to prevent the adult sized liver from causing pressure on Mackenzie's blood vessels wouldn't allow him to perform the stitches. He instantly called up his wife, asked her to rush to the Woolworth's supermarket and get him a set of ping pong balls.


"The ping pong ball was the perfect answer. It won't deteriorate, it won't create an infection and it was cheap," Dr Shun told The Daily Mail, UK.


According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine (the world's largest medical library) Biliary Atresia "is a blockage in the tubes (ducts) that carry a liquid called bile from the liver to the gallbladder."
To know more about the disease see: (http://1.usa.gov/MNm5b7/)

Last year, Dr Shun performed a similar operation at the Westmead Children's Hospital to save the life of 19-month-old Lareia Joyce. In the 20 years that he has been performing surgery and transplants, Dr Shun is known to have never let a patient die on his operation table.

It is such extraordinary work, often termed miracles from a doctor that inspires others around him to take up challenging tasks, such as this rare separation of the conjoined twins.