Meet the sad story of Manar Maged, the little girl with two heads

Have you ever seen the image above and wondered if it was real or one of those bizarre montages that circulate around the internet? Well, be aware that unfortunately this is not a scam. The photo shows a ten-month-old Egyptian girl named Manar Maged who was born with an incredibly rare malformation known as craniopagus parasiticus.

This condition affects between 4 and 6 people in 10 million births and happens when, during cell division, an embryo begins to give birth to identical twins, but the process is not completed.

So what happens is that one of the fetuses does not develop properly and ends up forming like a kind of member of the other twin. In the extremely peculiar case of Manar, his twin developed in the form of a second head, "glued" to that of the girl.

Separation

Manar's story made headlines in 2005 when the girl underwent a long and complex surgery to separate her from her twin. Most disconcerting is that her sister, called Islaam, could blink and smile on her own, but was unable to live an independent life. According to one of the doctors who handled the case, the second head had an independent brain, no torso or limbs, and depended on Manar's blood circulation.

Also, although the twin expresses emotions, doctors can't tell if she could form her own thoughts. The problem is that Islaam produced enormous stress on Manar's vital organs, which developed heart problems. Moreover, the weight of the second head did not allow her to sit alone or crawl.

Thus, as Islaam's presence was life-threatening to Manar, doctors chose to sacrifice one for the other. The complex procedure lasted 13 hours and involved a team of 13 surgeons, and at first the operation was a success. According to doctors, the little girl's prognosis was quite positive, and she showed no signs of paralysis.

Decline

However, after surgery, Manar developed a hydrocephalus picture, a fluid accumulation in the brain, and had to undergo a total of five operations to install valves to drain excess fluid. However, after recovering and being sent home, the little girl's health eventually worsened.

Unfortunately, a few months after being discharged, Manar was rushed to hospital with pneumonia, heart failure and brain infection. Despite the doctors' efforts, the girl did not react to the drugs and eventually died. She was about to be two years old.

In fact, there are other cases similar to Manar's, that is, children who underwent surgery to remove a second head. However, it is extremely rare for them to survive the procedure - an occurrence happened a few years ago in Afghanistan and, as far as anyone knows, the two twins survived. Returning to the little Egyptian girl, she was the first to stay alive after the surgery, and it is really a pity that her health deteriorated after the operation.