Conjoined twins Lori and George Chappelle, who had parts of their skulls fused together but managed to live an independent life, died on April 7 in Philadelphia. They were 62 years old.
The funeral home announced that he died at a hospital, but did not release the cause of death.
Dr. Christopher Moir, a professor of surgery at the Mayo Clinic, is part of the team that separated six sets of conjoined twins, all of whom were not joined at the head, but if one of the Chappelles died, the One person said he would have died. Almost certainly followed soon after.
“Conjoined twins share circulation, so unless you urgently sever the conjoined twin connection in some way, it becomes an absolutely fatal and non-survivable process,” he said.
The Chappelles lived much longer than expected when they were born as craniozygous twins joined at the head, which is unusual. They were listed by Guinness World Records as the second oldest conjoined twins of all time.
They were connected at the side of the forehead and faced in opposite directions. Lori pushed George, a healthy man with spina bifida, into a chair with wheels. George was born female and changed his name to Reba after country singer Reba McEntire in the 1990s, but later revealed he was a trans man.
They were adamant that they were separate people.
“We are two people brought into this world connected by one part of our bodies,” Lori said in a short 1997 ITV documentary. . When they saw this, she gestured to their combined heads. “That’s all they can see.”
She added: “There's more to Reba and I than this. Guys, let's just get over this already and learn to get to know each other as individuals.”
Lori worked in a hospital laundry in the 1990s and enjoyed bowling.
George performed country music in the United States and abroad. He won the Los Angeles Music Award for Best New Country Artist in 1997. He sang “The Fear of Being Alone” over the credits of the 2003 comedy film Stuck on You, directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly and starring Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon as conjoined twins.
The sisters were hired as technical consultants for the film, but the Farrellys learned of Reba's musical talent and included her rendition of the song “The Fear of Being Alone,” which McIntyre recorded in 1996, Los Angeles reported. The Times reported. Reba Chappelle also created a video for the song.
In 2002, Reba appeared on “The Jerry Springer Show'' and sang “The Dr. Springer Show.'' “Talk” is a song that Mr. Springer wrote and recorded in 1995. The audience stood up and applauded at her performance.
They gave each other space for their own pursuits. Reba said on BBC Radio in 2006, “When I'm singing, Lori is like another fan, but she gets on stage with me (covered with a blanket to reduce distractions).'' “Except that it's true,” he said.
On Springer's show, the twins discovered Lori was dating a man and discussed what happened next.
During her date with Lori, Reba said: I was there physically. I didn't see anything, I didn't say anything. ”
Lori added: “You really forget she's there.”
Lori said she has only ever had relationships with men. I plan to lose my virginity to her on our first night of marriage. ”
Lori, who has dated men, added: “We have shared intimacy before.”
Lori and Dori Chappelle were born on September 18, 1961 in West Reading, Pennsylvania, two of eight children of Franklin and Ruth Chappelle. Their doctor gave them one year to live.
“Then he said we wouldn't make it to age 2 or we wouldn't make it to age 3,” Lori told the Los Angeles Times in 2002. He was telling me the other day that if he could see us now, we'd still be here at 41. ”
According to a 2005 article in New York magazine, the twins were placed in an institution for the mentally retarded in Reading when they were young.
Ellen Weisbrod, who directed the 2000 documentary “Face to Face: The Chappelle Twins,” said by phone: “They were not intellectually disabled, so their caregivers there made their beds and provided other services. I helped feed the children,” he said.
The sisters were institutionalized for more than 20 years until they met Ginny Thornburgh, wife of Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh, in the 1980s. Thornburgh is a disability activist, and Governor Thornburgh has shut down some state facilities for people with developmental disabilities.
Thornburgh, who shared his memories of the Chappelles through Governor Thornburgh's former press secretary, Paul Critchlow, said that from his conversations with the sisters, it was clear that they were not intellectually disabled and did not belong in an institution. That's what he said. She consulted the facility's chaplain, who helped place them in senior housing in Redding.
Ms. Thornburgh then invited the sisters to lunch at the governor's mansion in Harrisburg. She also visited their apartments.
They are survived by their father; their sisters, Denise Chappelle, Brenda Zellers and Patti Cahill; and their brothers, Rodney, Dennis and Gregory. Their mother passed away in 2019.
The Chappelle twins said they never wanted to be surgically separated and never wanted to be born separately.
Lori told ITV: “From the time we were old enough, our parents instilled in us to be knowledgeable and to understand what they were saying.'' He did this for a purpose.”
