In November 2008, 18-year-old Laura Williams from Shrewsbury made medical history by becoming the youngest mother in the world to give birth to conjoined twins. Laura and her husband Aled suddenly found themselves headline news when their twin daughters - Hope and Faith - were born in London.
Channel 4 cameras were granted exclusive access to the family from the moment the two girls - joined from shoulder to waist - were delivered by Caesarean section. The twins were immediately transferred to the world-renowned Great Ormond Street Hospital, where a team of specialists pushed the boundaries of medical science in an attempt to keep the girls alive.
This moving Cutting Edge film follows the girls' fight for life step-by-step alongside their parents. While the world's media camp outside the hospital, the film reveals the touching human story of two young parents willing their daughters to live. The film includes the girls' christening, held minutes after their delivery; the drama of the decision to bring forward the ten-hour operation to separate the twins, which is forced on the surgeons; and the aftermath of the surgery.
As Hope loses her fight for life, the family are left torn as they try to support the surviving Faith while mourning her lost sister, relying on each other to get through the gruelling and exhausting events. Meanwhile the hospital have to manage a worldwide story.
Britain's Conjoined Twins: Hope and Faith is the remarkable story of two very ordinary young people doing their best to cope with an extraordinary event and their decision to try and let their daughters live. And despite the tragedy of the situation, Laura and Aled's positive attitude and unswerving devotion to their daughters is uplifting.
-
-
Thu 19 Feb 2009
In November 2008, 18-year-old Laura Williams from Shrewsbury made medical history by becoming the youngest mother in…
- Contains graphic footage of a surgical nature
- This programme has episodes with subtitles available.
- 2 days left
-
MORE:
-
Jess: Britain's Youngest Sleepwalker?
1 Episode
Cutting Edge reveals what life is like for a little girl whose insomnia has become more than a childhood habit. Three-year-old Jess has a condition that has baffled medical experts.
-
The Miracle Baby of Haiti
1 Episode
The story of Landina Seignon - the baby pulled from the rubble of the Haiti earthquake in January and brought to the UK for specialist surgery - and the attempt to reunite her with her mother
-
The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off
1 Episode
A frank and moving film about Jonny Kennedy, an extraordinary man with a terrible condition - Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB) - which means his skin literally falls off at the slightest touch
-
The Smallest People in the World
1 Episode
Acclaimed documentary maker Jane Treays enters the world of children on the edge of society, examining how they cope when their lives are shaped by extreme circumstances
-
My Weird & Wonderful Family
1 Episode
Cutting Edge goes behind the headlines to intimately portray how gay millionaires Tony and Barrie Drewitt-Barlow's determination to have more children has affected them and their kids
-
Kidnapped by the Kids
1 Episode
As parents everywhere struggle to balance the competing demands of work and home life, Kidnapped by the Kids finds out what would happen if, just for a while, the children were in charge
-
Emergency in the Womb
1 Episode
This Cutting Edge film follows the life and death stories of critically ill babies undergoing radical surgery in the womb
-
The Incubator
1 Episode
First Cut follows the experiences of four families whose babies were born too prematurely to survive without an incubator
-
One Born Every Minute
3 Series, 24 Episodes
A ground-breaking look at the drama and emotion of a maternity unit, from the perspective of the parents-to-be and the maternity ward staff
-
Coppers
4 Episodes
Filmed across Britain, from inner cities to country beats, Coppers reveals what the police are up against every day of their working lives
-
Katie: The Science of Seeing Again
1 Episode
Katie Piper explores the issues surrounding the pioneering surgery she's undergoing to regain the sight in her left eye
-
Confessions of a Nurse
3 Episodes
Filmed over a year at a major NHS trust, Confessions of a Nurse follows a diverse group of nurses, revealing their day-to-day challenges and what they really think about being a nurse
-
MotherTruckers
1 Episode
How do women lorry drivers get on with their male colleagues, juggle families, and stay feminine? This amusing film meets the new queens of the road.
-
Party Paramedics
3 Episodes
Three part series following the medical units, home and abroad, that patch up the victims of Britain's binge-drinking culture
-
Bouncers
1 Episode
Funny, irreverent and often surprising film following the boys of Newport's biggest security firm over a summer of booze and brotherhood
-
15 Kids and Counting
3 Episodes
Three-part series exploring the lives of some of the UK's biggest families