Conjoined twins documentary surpasses 70 million views and inspires others
SALT LAKE CITY, UT July 1, 2019 Twins Kendra and Maliyah were born conjoined; they were fused together at the torso, sharing a kidney and liver. At their birth, the doctor told the girls' mother that they wouldn't live past 24 hours. At four years old, the twins had a life-saving surgery to separate them, which proved successful. Beating all odds and gleefully proving many doctors wrong, the twins are now in high school.
There has been much press around Kendra and Maliyah Herrin over the last few years, but perhaps the most heard of story is the video which was produced by Mirmont Pictures / Sohrab Mirmont for the BBC's "Living Differently" series.
The video has garnered over 54 Million views on Facebook alone since being released in March. Other platforms such as YouTube and Vimeo have also had tens of millions of views combined.
Mirmont has produced for the BBC / Barcroft Media in the past, directing and producing the "Allergic To Sunlight" video, about a girl who burns the moment sunlight touches her skin. That video also went on to have tens of millions of views.
The success of this video has warranted a sequel, to be filmed by Mirmont Pictures later this month and released at a later date.
Kendra Deene Herrin and Maliyah Mae Herrin (born February 26, 2002) are former conjoined twins. They were separated in August 2006. They were the first set of conjoined twins to be separated that shared a kidney. Kendra retained their shared kidney following the separation surgery, while Maliyah Herrin underwent dialysis until she was transplanted with a kidney donated by her mother in April 2007.
Prior to the separation surgery, medical ethic experts in the United States and Europe discussed whether it was ethical to separate the twins because of the additional risk to Maliyah. The twins' family and doctors believed the separation surgery would give both girls their best chance to live a normal life. They went ahead with the surgery, and were right, making this one of those, "Happily ever after" stories.