that changed when the earthquake struck. >> i arrived the second day the airport opened and pretty much went to work and spent two absolutely grueling weeks, toughest of my life it wasn't a one and done thing. >> reporter: ford put together a team of more than two dozen volunteer health professionals from the united states and haiti. >> reporter: to avoid confusion, everyone is color coded. a line is drawn to show the surgeons where to cut. >> what we found was pretty much as expected. >> reporter: things go smoothly until michelle's blood pressure suddenly and dangerously drops. she is given a transfusion and i.v. fluids but because the twins still share a liver those fluids go from michelle's bloodstream into marians. the remedy is to complete the separation and to do it quickly. >> we now have two babies. two independent, living organisms. >> reporter: nearly seven hours after marian and michelle