World's oldest conjoined twins die; they were 62 years

Pennsylvania: The World's oldest conjoined twins, Lori and George Schappel, died on April 7 at a hospital here, Leibensperger Funeral Homes, which provided their obituaries. The Guinness World of Records also confirmed deaths, NDTV reported.

Guinness World Records wrote on X, "Guinness World Records are saddened to learn of the passing of Lori and George Schappell, the world's oldest conjoined twins. George enjoyed a successful career as a country singer, whilst Lori was a trophy-winning ten-pin bowler."

The twins were 62 years and 202 days old. They were born on September 18, 1961, and had partially fused skulls, with shared vital blood vessels and 30% of their brains. Though they were joined at the head, they were different in many ways. They chose different careers, too.

While George was a successful country singer, Lori was a trophy-winning ten-pin bowler. In the '90s, Lori worked in a hospital laundry for several years. George's career took them to many countries, such as Germany and Japan.

The duo was the world's first same-sex conjoined twins to identify as different genders in 2007. George started showing as a man after revealing that he was transgender.

They lived independently in a two-bedroom apartment in Pennsylvania and had rooms for each, where they spent alternate nights in each one. They took turns to practice their separate hobbies. They said in a 1997 documentary that they had separate bathing schedules and used a curtain as a barrier when one bath and the other stood the bath.

The twins were living with their father, six siblings, and many nieces and nephews, along with an extended family of friends.