PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – George and Lori Schappell, the world’s oldest surviving conjoined twins, died April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, according to their obituary.
Born on September 18, 1961, in West Reading, PA, the twins lived to be 62 years and 202 days old, nine years older than the second-oldest pair of female-born conjoined twins ever, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Is. ,
Lori and George were joined at the head and had separate bodies, making them craniopagus twins. Guinness reported that their skulls were partially fused and shared blood vessels and 30% of their brain. While Lori could walk, George had spina bifida and got around using a wheeled stool that Lori pushed.
George came out as transgender in 2007.
Before the change, George had once used the name Reba, after country artist Reba McEntire.
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Hiram G. in Johnstown, PA. Graduates of the Andrews Center, Lori and George previously worked at Reading Hospital.
Their obituary states that the twins had lived alone since they were 24 years old.
In 1997, the pair told filmmaker Antony Thomas how they continued to live separate lives and let each other pursue their own interests. The video is available on the True Lives YouTube channel and shows the twins letting Thomas into their apartment.
Like her former namesake Reba, George was a country singer herself. When they needed time to rehearse, the twins would go to George’s room and Lori would give them peace and quiet.
“This is his room, I’m physically here, but that’s it. This is his space,” Lori says in the video.
“I behave here like I’m at a concert and yes, she can’t stop me or talk to me when I’m outside performing,” George says in the documentary.
Lori adds, “Just because we can’t get up and away from each other doesn’t mean we can’t get solitude from other people or ourselves.” “The lives of people who are interconnected can be very private.”
George said, “If you love the person you’re with and you respect them, you will give them the privacy and compromise in situations that you want them to give you.”
Lowry had his own interests and he loved bowling – according to his obituary, he won several trophies.
Guinness said the twins have their own rooms in their apartment and will take turns spending the night in each room.
Lori and George were also guests on the long-running Jerry Lewis MDA telethon which aired on Labor Day.
He also appeared in several TV talk shows and documentaries.
