Two weeks from home - Hope turns heartache as former conjoined twin dies before returning to Jamaica

The countdown had begun. Stacy-Ann Ferron-Williams was eagerly preparing to welcome her granddaughters, two-year-olds Azora and Azaria Elson, home.

She said they were two weeks away from touching Jamaican soil.

The formerly conjoined twins were born via C-section on November 7, 2023 at the University Hospital of the West Indies. The girls, who were joined at the abdomen, departed Jamaica last July for Saudi Arabia, where a successful surgery to separate them took place on November 13, 2025 at the King Abdullah Specialist Children's Hospital in Riyadh. It gave each girl the chance to live an independent life.

After months of post-operation care, plans were being made for Azora and Azaria, as well as their mother, Iesha McMurray, to return home soon. However, almost out of nowhere, tragedy struck.

Baby Azora, who her grandmother Stacy-Ann Ferron-Williams called Singer, died on Monday night at a hospital in the Middle Eastern country.

"I was looking forward to seeing her and play with her, and for her to just bond with all of us and her siblings," the grandmother said.

That dream will never come true.

Instead of preparing to welcome home two little girls, the family is now bracing to receive one child -- and the body of another.

"Both a mi granddaughters dem a guh come home soon, but one of them will just be a body."

The news of Azora's passing came in the quiet, uneasy hours before dawn. When McMurray called, Ferron-Williams said her heart sank instantly.

"She tell mi say Azora dead, and mi beg her to show mi her," Ferron-Williams said.

"Mi see mi granddaughter just look like she a sleep. She looked so beautiful and she had a smile. She was peaceful. It surprise mi and mi just a wonder if she couldn't come home," she said as tears rolled down her face.

Yesterday, through a video call, the weight of loss hung thick in the air for McMurray, as she sat quietly in a room in Saudi Arabia, overcome with grief. Her eyes were swollen from hours of crying, her cheeks still damp, her body slumped under the unbearable reality she now faces.

Nearby, life continued as little Azaria played by herself, too young to understand that the sister who was once attached to her at the abdomen was no longer there.

After offering words of encouragement to her daughter, Ferron-Williams paused for several seconds as she tried to process the harsh reality of death.

She said that her daughter had taken the toddler to a routine medical appointment, but was immediately directed to the emergency unit after doctors detected complications and determined that urgent care was needed. Medical staff quickly began administering fluids and conducting a series of tests, but despite their efforts, the child passed away shortly after.

"I cried when I saw the video of her just fighting for her life, but she just couldn't manage," the tearful grandmother said.

The suddenness of her death left the family in shock. Ferron-Williams was gutted but she managed to find some positives.

"I stopped when I saw how pretty she was, and how she was smiling," the grandmother said. "She wasn't vex and I know she was very strong because she must have been in pain because she was crying the day before. She was a strong little baby girl," she added.

For Ferron-Williams, Azora was a constant melody in her life, despite being thousands of miles away. She was always babbling, always smiling, always finding a way to make her presence felt, even though the connection was through a phone screen.

"Azora love to make noise, and that is why I call her Singer because she is always babbling," Ferron-Williams said yesterday, one of the rare occasions that she managed a smile.

"When her mother call, yuh would see she come and peep in the phone and give off a smile and then she run off," she added.

Once bound to her sister at birth, every independent step Azora took felt like a miracle unfolding before their eyes. To see her running, free and full of life on her own, was a powerful reminder of just how far she had come.

Following the separation surgery, Azaria was intubated for nearly two weeks after doctors detected a weak heartbeat. She eventually woke on December 2, and in the days that followed, she and Azora created precious moments their family will forever cherish.

Not long after being discharged from the hospital, the twins achieved another milestone -- taking their first independent steps, a triumph that once seemed almost impossible.

Amid the overwhelming grief, Ferron-Williams expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support and prayers from well-wishers. She said she continues to encourage her daughter to remain strong and to lean on her Christian faith, while reminding her that she is not alone and is surrounded by love and support.