Help pours in to secure Wadia twins' future after crowd funding campaign

Five years after the twins were brought to Wadia hospital, it has now become their home and its staffers, their family

Wadia hospital's beloved twins Riddhi and Siddhi, 5, have now received overwhelming support from people outside of it, too. A crowd funding campaign set up three days ago to gather Rs 55 lakh for their spinal surgeries and education has already gathered Rs 4 lakh.

While they were separated in January 2014, the development of the twins has been slightly slow because of their birth complications. They now need corrective surgeries for their spine in order to walk properly because their legs might not be able to handle the body weight as they grow older.

"They were surgically separated a year after their birth. Now, they need at least two more spine correction surgeries to let them grow and walk properly," said Dr Minnie Aarasp Bodhanwala, CEO of the hospital. Keeping this in mind, the hospital started an online campaign on the crowd funding website - Milaap.

Riddhi and Siddhi were born conjoined at the waist

'Extremely intelligent'
The target is Rs 55 lakh, and they've been able to raise Rs 4 lakh in the past three days. "Both of them are extremely intelligent, so we want them to study further and lead a normal life, like any other girl of their age," said Dr Bodhanwala. The sisters, who were born conjoined at the waist, were brought to Wadia hospital in 2013 by NGO Pratham after it learnt that their parents wanted to sacrifice them at a shrine because they thought their babies were cursed. Their parents quietly faded into the background and disappeared entirely one day. By then, the twins already had a family in the hospital's staff.

The money is not only being raised for their corrective surgeries, but also their education

Found a home
"The corridors of the hospital reverberate with Riddhi and Siddhi's contagious laughter. Often, the hospital staffers keep visiting them in their private ward, which has now been filled with their favourite toys," said Dr Bodhanwala.

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