Weekly World News May 6, 2003 [antikvár]

INSIDE WEEKLY WORLD NEWS^MAKERSSend your questions about news-mokers to: 5401 NW Broken Sound Blvd., Boca Raton, Flo. 33487.1 UTiat are the \ital stats on that guy who Addie B.: Mobile. Ala.A, Jerry Sparklow has a mind-boggling IQof 600 points thanks to the computer that's now part of his brain (WWN Jan. 22, 2002), Super-genius Jerry is 43, stands 5 feet 11 and weighs 220 pounds. A former lab technician who hails from Boston. Jerry recently began dating a Harvard Square waitress who attends community college. "Claire's hved a fascinating life." Jerry tells us, "and she loves me for what's in my heart, not my head." We're not geniuses but we know true love when we hear it!Q. Ed .\nger sure has bounced back from that heart attack he had last year. UTiat's his secret? Martha E.: Baker^eld. Calif.A. "Cheeseburgers, a good American cocktailand a cheap cigar every day." WWJVs cantankerous columnist teils us. "I actually fell for that low-fat, no-smoking hoo-ha about a month before my heart attack, and look where it got me. Now I'm back on my old health kick and I've never felt better, by jiminy"'I. WTiat's up with that guy who's suing his t cyber-date for l>ing about her appear-ce? Jim G.: Miami, Fía.A^ Ryan Bronaugh is still pursuing his law- suit against the horribly homely woman who pretended to be a lingeiie model in her e-mail dates with Bronaugh (WWN July 23, 2002). But now he's in hot water with several of his other e-mail pals, who recognized his photo from our story and say that Bronaugh had claimed to be rich playboy with mansions in both Italy and France. Bronaugh declined to comment on the women's tions.IFOKEDKIIffi n MCE CAMELSa space alien'sWEEKLY WORLD NEWS (ISSN 0199-571 Publislied weekly by American Media CoMiuner Entertaimnciit Inc. 5401 NWBrok Sni, ri Hii ___ ;-=-SOTSCRiraONS t^^ye^ in U&, 64.9 a year to cSi Zi $84.96 aSfaS'inquines wnte Weekly Worid News. EC. Boi 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142^)235. Canadian GST Begistniliiai No. 133912394 H-l; Member.^^ changes andat the ^ead needDALLAS Siamese-twin brothers who are joined at the head may have to stay that way, because of the enormous cost of surgery to separate them.Hopes have grown shaky for little Mohamed and Ahmed Ibrahim, the angel-faced tots whose skulls are fused together at the tops of their heads. They can be separated, but the surgeiy costs $125,000 and neither the hospital nor the group sponsoring the twins is able to pay that much.your help!" By KATE McCLARE/Weefclg World NewsFmdif can't afford $125,000 swyery to Borate Mem.'Chadren's Medical Center of Dallas, which has the right technology for the highly risl^ procedure, says it can t donate the surgery because it would hurt its ability to care for north Texas children. The conjoined twins are from ES-pt-The World Craniofacial Foundation, which has been supporting the Ibrahim family since they came to America a year ago, can't pay the money either."This one surgery could completely wipe out our funds," says Sue Blackwood, the spokeswoman for the non-profit group,which helps children get surgery to fix deformities and injuries to the skull and face.The $125,000 is just a piece of the total cost of separating the twins. All told, the price tag for their surgery and recovery is expected to be a whopping $2 million.The good news is that the foundation has received more than $50,000 in pledges from caring donors who read about the twins' plight. That's almost half the amount needed for the>UT COMJOIMEDConjoined twins are delivered once in every 40,000 births.Conjunction at the skull hoppens once in every 2.5 million births.75 percent die within 24 hours of birth.*70 percent of conjoined twins are female.Of Hie approximately 200 pairs born alive every year.obout 50 percent die before their first birthday.Causes are unknown, but are generally thought to be a combination of environ mental and genetic factors.Statistically, conjoined twins are more likely to occur in Africo and India than in China, Europe or the U.S. *40 percent of conjoined twins are stillborn.THIS illustration shows the blood vessels shared by the twins which makes separation extremely difficult.separation itself.But time is running out for the twins, who will have their second birthday on June 2. "The surgery needs to be done close to age 2," Blackwood says. "At that age the brain can restore itself and bounce back from trauma." The surgery can still be done after that, but recovery is much more difficult.Mohamed and Ahmed have the rarest form of conjunction: At the crowns oftheir heads. Most of their brains are separate, but some key blood vessels are joined together making the complex surgery even tougher.Mohamed and Ahmed were born in a remote village in Egypt, about 500 miles south of Cairo, in June 2001. They spent their first year at the University of Cairo Hospital, and came to Dallas in June 2002. "It was the first time they'd been out of a hospital the first time they weren't surrounded by bright white light," says Blackwood.She says the brothers have developed quite normally: "They're learning to talk, and they play games. They're crawling, and they can even stand they look like a giant upside-down U."Despite their condition,THE TWINS were born with o severe handicap but they still find ways to hove a boll.she says, "their personalities are as different as night and day Mohamed is very active and determined, and Ahmed is more cautious and introspective."The boys' father, Ibrahim Mohamed Ibrahim, says he wants the surgery so his sons "can have a chance to live like any other human beings."But if that doesn't come to pass, he vows, "I will take them home. I will take care of them. My family will love them as always."It's in God's hands."I" YOU CAN help give a^normal life to conjoined I twins Mohamed and Ahmed I I Ibrahim.|The Egyptian brothers I have been joined at the I I head since their birth in |June 2001. They can be 1 separated, but surgery will I I cost $125,000 with their |total medical costs estimat-I ed at $2 million.IDonations are tax-de- | ductible. Please note on your gift that It is for the I twins.ISend a check to:World Craniofacial ' FoundationIRO. Box 515838Dallas, Texas 75251 'Donate online at ^icf.org