Oldest living conjoined twins die at 62

READING, PA

Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, according to funeral home officials. They were 62.

The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, according to obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg. The cause of death was not detailed.

“When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. George came out as transgender in 2007.

The twins, born Sept. 18, 1961, in West Reading, Pennsylvania, had distinct brains but were joined at the skull. George, who had spina bifida and was 10 centimeters shorter, was wheeled around by Lori on an adaptive wheeled stool. Despite each having to go where the other went, it was “very important” to both “to live as independently as possible,” the obituary said.

Both graduated from a public high school and took college classes. George went along for six years as Lori worked in a hospital laundry. Lori — “a trophy-winning bowler,” according to the obituary notice — gave up the job in 1996 so her sibling could launch a country music career.

“Since the age of 24, they have maintained their own residence and have traveled extensively,” the obituary notice said. Over the years, they appeared in many documentaries and talk shows, as well as in an episode of the FX medical drama “Nip/Tuck.”

Conjoined twins occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births when identical twins from a single embryo fail to separate. About 70% are female, and most are stillborn. Only a small percentage are joined at the head, with nearly three-quarters joined at the chest and others at the abdomen or pelvis.

Separation was deemed risky for the Schappell twins, but Lori Schappell told The Associated Press in a 2002 interview that she didn't think such an operation was necessary in any case.