it s a kind of second birth for them to go to america because when people say america here, it s great. it means a lot. but ibrahim will not go himself. this simple man chooses to remain in egypt to look after his family and place his faith in nasser. translator: i had to trust nasser because he loves my boys, not like other children but as if they are a gift from god. and so in june 2002, dr. nasser, dr. mamdouh, and their medical team take the twins onto an airplane bound for a brave, new world. then, arriving in dallas with his team and two tired little boys, nasser takes a part of this from his own children and presents the whole vexing case to dr. kenneth salyer.
Is twofold. he ll tour the facility run by dr. nasser and, of course, check up on mohamed and ahmed. it s been a long time. okay. okay. you went over to egypt to see these boys. right. what was that like? it was a wonderful moment. we had an opportunity to see these boys, and they were happy. it s still soft right here. i mean, it still hasn t filled in like i wanted it to. this is you. that s you. look. see this place right here? it s still a little soft. it has to grow some more. yeah. it was a wonderful reunion and an opportunity to examine their skulls and see that they re healing. next page. i know, next. okay, next. okay, next. don t forget, there is another one. no, i would never forget you. how are you doing?
Dubbed the philosopher because he tended to look at you and to examine you. i was always saying that we re not examining him, he s examining us. before very long the story began to spread about these poverty-stricken boys from the poor village up the nile and their awful dilemma. their faces were on television. their names were on the lips of people in the streets and back alleys of teeming cairo. they became egypt s babies. to give the twins a sense of family, nasser assigns two nurses, one to each boy, to feed them and bathe them and take them out in their new stretch stroller, an adapted tandem baby carriage. it is, like any of the assignments they took on for nasser, difficult and challenging. but they have no idea just yet
The reaction is overwhelming. my dream for them actually crystallized. i wanted these boys to come back with two separate passports. the twins must still wear helmets to protect their heads and give their skulls more time to heal. look. look, egypt. ahmed. for the family life in egypt will be different now. the twins brother and sister will remain in their village of qus with relatives so they can attend their same school. but the parents, sabah and ibrahim, will be in cairo with the twins so they can be close to the hospital, where they ll continue to get free medical treatment. who are you going to talk to? the transition is a tough one. finding a place to live is a
Five months later the twins are back in the operating room for reconstructive surgery. they both had two large holes in their skull after separation, and the idea was we need to fill all that in so they have a solid skull. more than two years after the separation surgery they re ready to come home. on november 20th, 2005, cairo airport is filled with excitement. the celebration is about to begin. egypt s favorite sons are returning home, finally, after more than three long years. and then, after the doors open, there standing by himself is mohamed. and in the arms of his mother is ahmed. the two totally separate 4-year-old boys.