Dec 26 2008
Faith Williams, 2nd British Conjoined Twin, Dies On Christmas Day
I had a fantastic Christmas yesterday, spent in the company of family and friends, but two news stories have made me a little sad because they highlighted the fact that it is not the same for everyone. The first came yesterday when it was announced that Harold Pinter, esteemed British playwright, had died of cancer on Christmas Eve. He had been sick with cancer for some time and will be a major loss to the British literature community, but he did live his life to the full. Unfortunately, the subject of the second news story never had the chance to do that. Poor little Faith Williams died yesterday after a hard fought battle to stay alive following the death of her sister Hope Williams 23 days before.
Faith Williams was one of the conjoined twins born to Laura Williams, the youngest mother to give birth to Siamese twins in the world, back on November 26. Hope and Faith Williams had been covered by the press before they were born but were even more celebrated afterwards as their survival of the initial birth seemed to be a miracle. Unfortunately, Hope Williams was the first to succumb to her health problems on December 2 following an operation at Great Ormond Street to separate them. She could not breath on her own and was largely believed to have died so that her sister could live on by some. However, although she fought bavely, Faith could not survive either. Her health had slowly deteriorated over the weeks since the death of her sister and mother Laura Williams had been informed that her survival was also unlikely.
Faith Williams lost her battle for life on Christmas Day, the worst possible day for her poor parents. They have had to watch both of their conjoined twins suffer and ultimately give in, knowing full well that they could do absolutely nothing to help them. I feel deep sorrow for the Williams family and desperately hope that they can find some solace and peace of mind from somewhere. I also hope that both Hope and Faith Williams are happy together somewhere and free from pain now. They went through a lot in their short little lives, and so did their parents. I sincerely hope that the Williams family is able to get through this and that everyone watching in has learned something from the plight of the conjoined twins.
RIP Faith Williams. I hope that you are now at peace little darling. No more suffering.
