José Luis and José Armando Cevallos, the Ecuadorian conjoined twins who built a sizable online following documenting their daily life, died Oct. 15 at age 27 after successive cardiac events in a Colombian hospital.
The brothers, known on social media as the Siameses del Ecuador, were born Sept. 8, 1999, in Milagro, Guayas province. Joined at the pelvis, they shared a liver and intestines while each having his own heart, lungs and arms. Early medical assessments gave them months, or at most a few years. Separation was considered but ruled out because of the shared organs. The twins later said they no longer wanted the surgery. Their repeated line was that they were born together and would die together.
They spent years navigating limited mobility, using wheeled boards and coordinating every basic task. A 2019 hospitalization in Guayaquil for a non-healing ulcer added another medical setback. Still, they enrolled in social work studies at the Universidad Estatal de Milagro and began posting regularly. Their Instagram account @siamesesdelecuador reached roughly 60,000 followers. TikTok numbers ran higher, with reports above 800,000. The feed mixed everyday clips, fan questions, humor and short messages about persistence. Recent posts showed them practicing standing, loading a car trunk and celebrating their 27th birthday. They had also appeared on Spanish television, including Antena 3’s Y Ahora Sonsoles.
In April the brothers traveled to Colombia for rehabilitation therapy meant to improve their mobility and help them walk more independently. They stayed for months. Around Oct. 14, José Luis developed nausea and vomiting. Friend Fernando Carrillo arranged a transfer to a hospital in Zipaquirá, north of Bogotá. There José Luis went into cardiac arrest. Doctors resuscitated him. José Armando, who saw the emergency, was said to have asked not to be left alone. Minutes to about two hours later, José Armando suffered a heart attack. Both died in the early hours of Oct. 15. Carrillo has said staff asked about trying to save only one; he declined, pointing to the twins’ stated wish. Their older brother Damián called their parents devastated and has sought help returning the bodies to Milagro. Official autopsy results have not been released. Accounts from Carrillo and the family reference a possible longstanding kidney issue.
The twins’ social media team posted a short announcement thanking supporters and noting that the brothers had been happy working toward their goals. The post ended with a phrase they often used: where there is a will there is a way, and disability is no barrier to being happy. Their last regular content had gone up just days earlier, on Oct. 12.
The deaths drew coverage across Ecuadorian outlets, Spanish television and English-language entertainment sites. The brothers had spent nearly three decades past the earliest medical predictions while posting regularly to a growing audience. They died in Colombia while continuing physical therapy, still joined as they had said they intended to remain.
