Mar 23, 2006 12:29 pm US/Central
Conjoined Twins' Parents Enjoy Strangers' Support
Fargo, N.D. (AP) ―
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Abby and Belle Carlsen
CBS
The parents of conjoined twins say they are finding comfort in correspondence from people they have never met.
"I didn't expect this many people would care," Jesse Carlsen said one morning as he flipped through stacks of envelopes while sitting in a hospital room hundreds of miles from home.
He and his wife, Amy, have received about 500 cards and letters from people touched by the plight of their daughters, Abby and Belle. The girls are joined from mid-chest to their navels. Separation surgery is tentatively scheduled for late April at the Mayo Eugenio Litta Children's Hospital in Rochester, Minn.
A Fargo, N.D. bank that tracks donations for the family also stores letters in boxes until the Carlsens can return home to pick them up.
A number of the well-wishes the Carlsens receive come from former co-workers and teachers, classmates and relatives. Others come from strangers like Lola Kagol.
Kagol, of Excelsior, Minn., said she had never sent a note or money to someone she did not know until she heard about the Carlsen twins. The great-grandmother sent a card and a $50 check.
"I'm just hoping and praying everything turns out for those little ones," she said. "Their parents look at those girls like they are the most precious things in the world."
Most of the mail features store-bought cards with messages of congratulations or "thinking of you." Most senders sign only their names. Others include personal messages.
Shortly after Pat Johnson of Bloomington, Minn., read a newspaper story about Abby and Belle, her step-grandson, almost 28 years old, died under mysterious circumstances in Chicago.
"(The Carlsens') story really gave me a message of hope," said Johnson, who sent $50 to the Fargo family in memory of her step-grandson's death.
A Sunday school from Winger, Minn., raised more than $100 for the girls, explaining "we want to do this in honor of our moms and dads for Mother's Day and Father's Day."
Jerry Shulman of British Columbia saw video clips of the Carlsen twins on a cable news network. He immediately called the network wondering how to help.
"I think cases like this are exceptional," he said. "Here's a young, loving family with beautiful babies who have a right to lead a normal life. That's what really touched me."
When Colette Chase of Hazen heard about the twins a month ago, she knew she made something they needed -- blankets from flannel and satin.
After consulting with Amy Carlsen, Chase bought Disney princess-themed flannel. The girls' room at home is decorated the same. Abby received a pink blanket; Belle a purple one.
"I wanted the same theme, but also wanted to treat them as individuals," Chase said.
She made two identical blankets for each girl, so the twins will never have to stand by the washing machine waiting for their blankets to be cleaned.
Then Chase dropped them in the mail with a note in each package -- one written in pink, the other in purple.
"It's things like that that just make your day easier," Amy Carlsen said.
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According to the Mayo Clinic, conjoined twins are extremely rare, occurring once in every 200,000 births.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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