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Surviving Twin Grows Stronger; Sister Buried

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<i> From a Times Staff Writer</i>

As a funeral Mass was said in Tijuana for Sarahi Morales and a priest assured her grieving parents that “little girls go to heaven,” doctors in San Diego on Thursday reported that her sister Sarah is continuing to grow stronger.

Despite the worldwide attention to the plight of Sarahi and Sarah, born Jan. 12 in Tijuana as Siamese twins and separated Saturday during delicate surgery at Childrens Hospital, the Mass was sparsely attended.

“I take comfort in knowing my two little girls are one,” said Maria Luisa Espinoza, 33, the twins’ mother. “I’m grateful to everyone in the United States.”

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Sarahi, who doctors had feared might not survive the separation surgery because of her deformed heart, died of cardiac arrest just an hour after the five-hour surgery to separate the twins’ abdomens, chests and livers and sever three arteries that connected their hearts.

Dr. Gail Knight, a neonatologist overseeing Sarah’s care, said her breathing and other vital signs are improving and she is responding to visits by her parents.

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