Parent(s) Theresia Binder(mother) | ||
Patrick and Benjamin Binder (born February 2, 1987) were Conjoined twins, joined at the head, born in Germany in early 1987, and separated at Johns Hopkins Hospital on September 7, 1987. They were the first twins to be successfully separated by neurosurgeon Ben Carson, of Baltimore, Maryland. For this operation Carson was able to prepare by studying a three-dimensional physical model of the twins' anatomy. Carson described this separation as the first of its kind, with 23 similar attempted separations ending in the death of one or both twins.
Although Carson was able to separate the boys, they were both left profoundly disabled. The Associated Press reported, in 1989, two years after the separation, that Patrick remained in a "vegetative state", following the surgery. He never came out of his coma. According to a 2015 Washington Post article, he "died sometime in the last decade."
Benjamin recovered to a certain extent. The Washington Post reported that Peter Parlagi, the twins' younger half-brother, said their father was emotionally unable to ever handle them, or share in their care. He said the twin's father became an alcoholic, spent all the couple's funds, and left their mother destitute and alone. She was forced to institutionalize them.
In a 1993 interview, Theresia Binder, the mother of the boys, expressed remorse for consenting to a surgical procedure that compromised her sons' chances of leading a life with quality. A 2015 interview with Parlagi by the Washington Post revealed that Benjamin never acquired the ability to speak or feed himself. However, he appreciates visits and enjoys being taken for walks.
