A team of specialised doctors from Sydney has flown to Papua New Guinea to determine whether a rare set of conjoined twins can be surgically separated.
The brothers, Tom and Sawong, were born six weeks ago in remote Papua New Guinea and are still alive despite fears they may not survive.
Joined at the lower abdomen, the boys share a single liver and portions of their gastrointestinal tract. Tom, the smaller twin, also has a congenital heart defect and only one kidney.
This week, the ABC was granted exclusive access to visit the twins in a neonatal intensive unit at the private hospital in Port Moresby where they are currently receiving care.
Lying face-to-face in a plastic incubator surrounded by soft pillows and blankets, the boys sleep peacefully, legs tangled around one another.
Now and then, they will stir: a clenching fist, a batting eyelid, the twitch of a mouth — signs of life that bring comfort to their parents and medical team.
Every hour, specialist nurses open the cot to reposition the twins and feed them.
While Tom cannot receive nutrition orally and is fed through a nasogastric tube, Sawong drinks from a delicate syringe connected to his mouth.
As he suckles, Sawong's big eyes flick open, staring up at the Papua New Guinean nurse tending to him.
