In Britain, Parents of Twin Who Lived Call Her a ‘Fighter’

The parents of conjoined twins separated last month during a 20-hour operation in which the weaker infant died praised their surviving daughter as a “fighter”--and said both children would always be part of their family.

Michaelangelo and Rina Attard spoke publicly for the first time in an interview to be broadcast today, after a judge partially lifted a ban on identifying them.

The two girls--known publicly as Jodie and Mary--were born Aug. 8 with fused spines that left them joined at the abdomen. Doctors said both would die without the surgery but that separation would kill Mary, who was kept alive by Jodie’s heart and lungs.

Their parents, Roman Catholics from the Maltese island of Gozo, opposed the separation on religious grounds. Doctors went to court to win the right to separate the twins.

Rina Attard said Jodie, who now feeds from a bottle and breathes without a ventilator, was making strong progress following the Nov. 7 operation at St. Mary’s Hospital in Manchester.

“She might notice that something has been separated from her, so she’s holding our hands much, much stronger,” Attard, 29, told Granada Television’s “Tonight With Trevor McDonald” program, according to a prereleased transcript of the show.

“She makes sounds like she is talking with us, and she smiles at people and us. . . . She’s going to be a real fighter,” she said.

Michaelangelo Attard, 44, said he was still coming to terms with Mary’s death. “Even though we were prepared, it was a shock,” he said.

“Hopefully, one day we will all go back together, taking Jodie back with us--and Mary, because she is part of our family and will be close to us all the time,” he said.

The couple was paid $215,000 for the television interview. The money will go toward Jodie’s care.