In the village of Karamchedu in what is now Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh, a boy named Yarlagadda Nayudamma was born on 1 June 1947. From those rural fields he carried a quiet resolve that would one day give separate lives to children born joined together.

He studied at Guntur Medical College, graduating in medicine in 1970. He earned his Master of Surgery from Rohtak Medical College and then specialised in paediatric surgery, obtaining his M.Ch. from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi in 1977. Returning to Guntur, he joined the Government General Hospital and rose to become Professor and Head of the Department of Paediatric Surgery. He later served as Vice-Principal of Guntur Medical College.

In the modest facilities of a government hospital he undertook surgeries that few others dared. In 1992 he successfully separated craniopagus twins joined at the head—the only such case then recorded in South-East Asia. The following year he separated twins fused at the thorax and abdomen. In 2002 he achieved the separation of ischiopagus tetrapus twins joined at the pelvis. He remains the only Indian surgeon to have successfully separated three sets of conjoined twins fused at three different anatomical sites. All six children grew up healthy and independent.

He also performed the first successful Indian operation on a rare congenital anomaly—duplication of the stomodeum, or double mouth. Many of these complex procedures were carried out free of cost for poor families.

After one such marathon separation, a grateful mother held his hands and asked, “Doctor, how did you find the courage?”

Nayudamma answered softly, “When two children share one body, nature has already shown extraordinary strength. Our duty is simply to give each of them the chance to walk their own path.”

In 2008 Acharya Nagarjuna University conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Science. In 2016 the nation recognised his pioneering contributions with the Padma Shri.

Today, as a consultant paediatric surgeon in Guntur, Dr. Yarlagadda Nayudamma continues to operate, teach and inspire. From a village boy in Karamchedu to the surgeon who gave separate futures to children once joined as one, his life remains a powerful testament to skill, courage and compassion in the service of the smallest patients.