Tiny Conjoined Warriors : Tom and Sawong’s Fight for Hope in Papua New Guinea

When Fetima Tinga held her newborn sons for the first time on 9 October 2025 in Finschafen District of Morobe Province, she saw two tiny faces and one impossible truth and that her boys were joined at the lower abdomen. Named Tom and Sawong, the conjoined twins have captured the attention of Papua New Guinea.

Today, the infants are receiving round-the-clock specialist care in Paradise Private Hospital that is guarded closely by doctors, nurses, family and a nation that has rallied behind them.

Tom and Sawong at Paradise Private Hospital receiving the needed medical care by a committed medical team.

After the family being urgently medevacked to the Port Moresby on 15 October, the twins underwent a series of detailed assessments by paediatric doctors.

Doctors found that the boys share parts of several critical organs including sections of the liver, bladder and gastrointestinal tract. At least one twin also has additional severe complications: a congenital heart defect and a solitary kidney.

These findings make any plan for surgical separation extremely high-risk but Tom and Sawong show no sign of losing hope.

In the early weeks of their referral to Port Moresby, specialists explored overseas transfer options. Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network held preliminary discussions, and inquiries were made in both Australia and Germany.

But after a multidisciplinary review, doctors at Port Moresby General Hospital advised that an international transfer for high-risk separation surgery could cause more harm than good. The babies were too fragile, the abnormalities too complex, and the odds too low.

For now, clinicians recommend specialised supportive care in Paradise Private Hospital in Port Moresby while longer-term possibilities continue to be evaluated.

Janet Sios said, “Our director of medical services stepped in, facilitating the doctors that are coming from overseas to now further look into how these two little babies can be saved, can be looked after, and can be successfully in any way they can to make their life better."

Fetima expressed her thanks to Paradise Private Hospital (PPH) for the support her boys have received.

The twins were taken Paradise Private Hospital, where they now occupy a sealed, sterilized paediatric ward designed specifically to protect them from cross infection which is one of their biggest threats. Cross-infection is one of the most dangerous risks for conjoined infants with compromised immunity. The move to a private, isolated ward has significantly lowered that risk. The twins remain in a single-patient, sterilized room. Entry is strictly controlled to essential staff only. All equipment is dedicated exclusively to the twins are being used efficiently. The airflow and temperature are set to neonatal standards and the surfaces undergo high-frequency sterilization cycles. Clinicians from Paradise Private Hospital say this isolation environment is critical to keeping the boys stable.

Paradise Private Hospital has been operating for 65 years but effectively progressed in the last 10 years under Dr. Robin Sios and Janet Sios’ management. They’ve reinvested their profits to redeveloping the hospital to provide secondary and now tertiary-level care which the ICU is a three-bed ICU that was built, and it's now where the twins have stayed. The Private Hospital is fully serviced that, but we've now started to go to tertiary care with dialysis and ERP and many of our equipment that are being bought.

Janet Sios and Dr. Robert Sios are co-founders of Paradise Private Hospital.

Janet Sios, said, “We received the twins into our hospital earlier on this week, and we are looking after them. We have set up a team of specialized nurses in looking after Tom and Sawong and also the doctors, senior doctors that will look after the twins.”

Mrs. Sios added that, the hospital's nursing care reports that Tom and Sawong are progressing well and they put on a little bit more weight. "They are opening their eyes. We are happy to hear them sounding loud cries showing expansion of their lungs. “

“We are privileged to have the twins with us. We thank the parents for having faith in our Papua New Guinean doctors, our Papua New Guinean hospitals, our Papua New Guinean nurses, to look after them in the transition to go to further care overseas. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for trusting us.”

Janet Sios thanked the parents and for having faith and for allowing Paradise Private Hospital’s senior nurses and senior doctors to be part of the care that's needed in the country while they transit overseas.

Everyday is a careful medical balancing act with the nursing care team at Paradise Private Hospital. They are trying to manage meticulous feeding protocols, infection-control routines, careful monitoring of urine and stool outputs, respiratory and cardiac assessments. The reason being that the twins share parts of their abdominal system, even small changes in output can signal problems.

At night, two nurses are assigned to the infants on 12-hour shifts, from 8pm to 8am, ensuring uninterrupted monitoring. Their vigilance reduces unnecessary movement in and out of the sterilized room targeting to further lower infection risks.

Fetima and her partner, Kevin, have spoken openly about their hope that international help might still save their sons. Fetima in a full arched smile said, “I am so happy seeing my boys’ improvement at the Paradise Private Hospital. The boys have two nurses on shifts to look after them during the day and night which I get to watch my sons go to sleep."

“As their mother, I am so happy to be available and push through with wherever help comes from, that is either from Germany, Australia or India, if they offer help or whoever that will offer the best medical offer for my sons”.

Kevin Tingar, the father of the conjoined twins - Tom and Sawong opened up about his sons.

He said, "Tom and Sawong are fighters and have fought since. I will continue to support what my sons have already proven to be hope despite, setbacks of grasping the urgent medical help they need".

He added that the choices him and his wife make today will be a decision of a life-time for my sons, Tom and Sawong therefore, he will choose what is best for his sons gladly from where is fit to take my boys' case.

The Freiburg University Hospital in Germany, Sydney Children’s Hospital, and now a specialized hospital in India has expressed interests in reviewing Tom and Sawong’s medical case. Despite hopes of being choosers of which international hospital to be taken onboard with, the hard truth still slams with logistical barriers such as medical visas, the need for an equipped neonatal air ambulance, and the infants’ instability will remain formidable.

CEO for Manolos Aviation Ltd and Director for Mountain Area Medical Airlift (MAMA) Foundation, Captain Jurgen Ruh, was chosen by Fetima and Kevin to be their family’s representative in dealing with the conjoined twins since brought from Finschafen in Morobe.

“A team is arriving from Sydney today (Thursday – 20th November) to assess the possibilities of surgery for the twins”

“We’re opening doors for all possible interested countries who want to be part of this medical journey so we can choose what’s medically best for Tom and Sawong”.

“We want to flip the script on the saying as it goes... ‘beggars can’t be choosers’ and thrive to be choosers of what is medically urgent for the family”.

Manolos Aviation, a premier helicopter service provider in Papua New Guinea for over 15 years operates a Non – Government Organization (NGO), known to be MAMA Foundation.

Whilst the helicopter company’s contributions to Papua New Guinea have been numerous, and being the first helicopter company to a charter company to partner with the provincial government to provide much needed medical evacuation services in remote areas. Those medical evacuations come under MAMA Foundation and Tom and Sawong was medically evacuated from Braun Hospital in Finschhafen out into Lae and later transferred into Port Moresby General Hospital earlier October by MAMA Foundation.

Doctors at Paradise Private Hospital, meanwhile, continue to urge extreme caution, stressing that survival odds remain low even with world-class intervention.

Captain Jurgen Ruh expressed gratitude towards Paradise Private Hospital for their commitment in ensuring the nursing care of not just the boys but their parents’ well being as well, providing care of meals, beds for them and allowed parent to child bonding sessions for both parents as their nursing care unit encourages.

There is no single dramatic next step. Instead, the path ahead is made of many smaller, careful ones: daily nursing rounds, ongoing scans, consultations with international partners, and continuous assessment of the twins’ viability for any future procedures.

The Paradise Private Hospital remains committed to supporting the twins and their family on every front medically, emotionally and practically.

Fetima and Kevin say they will continue fighting for any chance that might give their sons life.