Ronnie and Donnie Gaylon To Celebrate Becoming The World’s Oldest Conjoined Twins

Ronnie and Donnie Gaylon aren’t your average twins. The Gaylon brothers became famous for being conjoined twins, and they are getting ready to celebrate one heck of a milestone.

According to The Huffington Post, Donnie and Ronnie are hoping to be recognized later this year as the world’s oldest conjoined twins at the age of 63. While reaching the age of 63 is exciting enough, the two are getting more specific and are planning a party to celebrate turning 62 years, 8 months, and 7 days old which means they will have outlived the famous 19th century Eng and Chang Bunker “Siamese Twins.”

Younger brother Jim Galyon told the Dayton Daily News:

“They are talking about it constantly, day in and day out. They’ve been marking their calendar off every day, counting down to the day, so it’s a huge life event for Donnie and Ronnie.”

According to ABC News, the Gaylon brothers were born in 1951 and have been conjoined their entire lives. They are “joined from the breastbone area to the pelvis” and according to reports, they weren’t expected to live long lives. They weren’t even expected to live the first day, let alone get out of the hospital, let alone live 62 years.

The Gaylon twins supported themselves for many years by performing in carnival sideshows and circuses until they retired in 1991 and even appeared in a TV special for TLC. After they retired they lived on their own for a while, though never very far from younger brother Jim. After falling deathly ill, ABC News reported that Ronnie and Donnie moved into brother Jim’s home so that they could receive 24 hour care.

Jim’s wife Mary told reporters:

“You’re on call 24-7, so even if they need something in the middle of the night or whenever, you’ve got to be there. It’s amazing, I mean, just to see the brothers together. This is our family.”

Ronnie and Donnie have been looking forward to their celebration for a long time, and there have been a few occasions where their dream of being recognized by the Guinness World Records seemed out of reach, but that doesn’t mean that they gave up hope.

“It’s what me and Donnie’s always dreamed about, and we hope to get the ring, because we’ve dreamed about getting this since we were kids,” Ronnie Galyon told the Dayton Daily News.

The Dayton Daily News reportedly contacted officials at Guinness, and a spokeswoman told them that the organization plans on recognizing Ronnie and Donnie as the oldest living conjoined twins in October when they officially turn 63.

[Image via YouTube Screen Grab]