Separated Siamese Twin Dies of Heart, Lung Complications

Angela Lakeberg, who struggled for 10 months to capture the slim chance at life offered by the surgery that sacrificed her conjoined sister, died Thursday of heart and lung complications, doctors said.

The Siamese twin was surrounded by members of her surgical team in the intensive care unit of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. No relatives were present.

The red-haired, blue-eyed baby weighed 21 pounds and was three weeks shy of her first birthday.

“Angela Lakeberg was a sweet little girl,” said Dr. Russell C. Raphaely, director of the hospital’s division of critical-care medicine. “We’re quite sad. All of us kind of consider ourselves surrogate parents for Angela.”

Of the long saga, he said: “In my opinion and my judgment, it was certainly worth it.”

Angela had been on a ventilator since shortly after birth and had been listed in serious but stable condition. Oxygen levels in her blood dropped abruptly in her last days, and the condition of her lungs “dramatically deteriorated” during the last 24 hours of her life, hospital officials said.

She was resuscitated three times in the 3 1/2 hours before her heart finally stopped, said Dr. James A. O’Neill Jr., who headed Angela’s surgical team.

The baby’s father, Kenneth Lakeberg, was briefly jailed Thursday after a series of legal problems. Angela’s mother, Reitha (Joey) Lakeberg, posted $500 bond to secure his release. As the couple left the Jasper County Jail in Rensselaer, Ind., Reitha Lakeberg was asked how she felt.

“Not good,” she said. “I would just like to thank everybody who has helped us.”

Angela and her twin, Amy, were born on June 29, 1993, at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill. They shared a malformed heart and fused liver tissue.

Doctors said separation would result in the death of one child and leave the other with less than a 1% chance of survival. Without surgery, both probably would have died within months, doctors said.

The Lakebergs decided to pursue separation, and the babies were transferred to Children’s Hospital for the operation on Aug. 20.

The bill for Angela’s medical care topped $1 million at Children’s Hospital alone, spokeswoman Sarah Jarvis said.

The Indiana Medicaid program has agreed to pay $600,000 for Angela’s post-surgical care, she said. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills for the twins’ care at Loyola remain in dispute.