Conjoined twins Maliyah and Kendra Herrin, after undergoing a 26-hour surgery to separate them, are now breathing on their own at a Salt Lake City hospital.
The Salt Lake Tribune said a team of two dozen surgeons and operating staff worked all day Monday and into Tuesday to separate the 4-year-old twins, reconstructing their pelvises and abdominal organs.
The girls had been hooked up to ventilators to help them breathe. Doctors removed the ventilators on Saturday afternoon.
"It's a little sooner than we had anticipated, but Dr. Meyers has said all along that we would listen to the girls and follow their lead," Primary Children's Medical Center spokeswoman Laura Winder said.
The Tribune reported that the girls are both sedated and listed in critical condition.
Copyright 2006 by United Press International
