London - A one-week-old conjoined twin has died in a London hospital following emergency surgery to separate her from her sister, Great Ormond Street hospital said Wednesday. Hope Williams, whose sister Faith is said to be in a stable condition, died because her lungs failed her, leading surgeon Agostino Pierro said.
The twins were born on November 26 to Laura Williams, who at 18 years of age was the youngest woman ever in Britain to give birth to conjoined twins.
Hope and Faith were joined from their breast bones to their navels and had shared circulatory systems and a liver, but separate hearts.
An emergency operation to separate them was brought forward to Tuesday following concern over their health.
"Very sadly, after separation, baby Hope's lungs proved too small to support her breathing," Pierro said, describing the separation as the "most challenging and the most complex" he had ever faced.
Faith will need further surgery to close her stomach and is in intensive care.
