They Had Never Been Separated—Mother Recounts Twin Sisters’ Deaths Days Apart

Professor Hadiza Abdullahi Usman, mother of twin sisters Dr Hadiya Usman Abdullahi and Dr Aidah Abdullahi Usman, has recounted the emotional circumstances surrounding their deaths days apart after battling sickle cell disease.

The grieving mother, who is the Chief Medical Director of the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Nguru, Yobe State, spoke in an interview with BBC Pidgin aired on Wednesday.

Hadiya, a medical doctor undergoing her internship at FMC Nguru, died on Friday after suffering a sickle cell crisis, while her twin sister, Aidah, a pharmacist at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, died on Sunday.

Recounting Aidah’s reaction to her sister’s death, Professor Hadiza said she had insisted on visiting the family to mourn Hadiya, despite having been at her husband’s house.

“Aidah, she came, she insisted that she has to come and condole, she can’t just be in her husband’s house without coming to be with the family for the grief of the loss of her sister,” she said.

According to her, Aidah repeatedly told friends and others who accompanied her that she could not imagine living without her twin sister.

“She kept telling my friends and some of her friends that brought her that she can’t imagine her life without her sister, that they came together, so her sister cannot go and leave her,” the mother recounted.

Professor Hadiza said Aidah maintained that those around her could not understand the depth of her attachment to her twin, insisting that life would never be the same without her.

However, the following day, Aidah slumped and suffered cardiac arrest.

“And the next day, the unimaginable happened, she slumped and went into cardiac arrest as if it is a scripted film when reflecting on the whole drama surrounding how she joined her sister,” she said.

Describing her daughters as gifted and resilient children, Professor Hadiza said the twins had lived with sickle cell disease while pursuing their dreams of becoming medical professionals.

“They were gifted children from childhood, very lively, very respectful, they were warriors, they fought various wars,” she said.

She explained that despite the challenges associated with their medical condition, the sisters remained determined to achieve their ambitions.

According to her, Hadiya had expressed her desire to become a doctor when she was between five and seven years old.

“If you see them, you won’t even know they had a medical condition. They were able to struggle to get to their dreams of becoming a doctor and a pharmacist,” she said.

The mother also described the sisters as inseparable, saying their closeness continued even after one got married and began living in different locations.

She recalled instances when the twins, despite being in separate households, would wear matching clothes.

“Sometimes, you’d be surprised that  the one at Nguru is wearing the same cloth as the one in Maiduguri in her husband’s house,” she said.

Reflecting on their lives and deaths, Professor Hadiza said the sisters had remained closely connected throughout their 28 years together.

“They were connected, it is their destiny. God brought them together, they lived for 28 years together and went back to their maker together,” she said.

The Twin’s  deaths left family members, friends and colleagues mourning the loss of two young professionals whose lives were cut short after years of managing sickle cell disease.