Doctors are struggling to save the lives of two 14-year-old twin sisters, who are reportedly severely ill after their "modeling agency told them to reduce weight," according to reports. The young models, identified as Masha and Dasha Ledeneva, were reportedly rushed to intensive care after doctors warned that the duo had become "living corpses" whom no one wanted to tend to, according to the Daily Mail.

The news came to the fore after 29-year-old Maria Kokhno, a campaigner for eating disorder victims, publicly asked for medical assistance for the teenage sisters who were at risk of "lying and dying at home" after multiple doctors "refused" to assist them.

Kokhno, who is a model herself and has overcome anorexia, said that both the sisters had gone into a coma for three days at another hospital, but they were sent home later after they gained consciousness, despite being critically ill. Reports state at the time, Dasha had reduced to 36 kg (5st 9lbs) and her sister Masha was 40 kg (6st 4lbs).

The teenage models, who were already slim, were reportedly told that they should lose more weight to make their "cheekbones more visible" so that they could get more shoots. "Nobody was keen to help the girls, their mother went here and there, hospitals were rejecting them. Masha can stand up but Dasha is only lying and cannot even lift her head," Kokhno said. "The mother contacted TV presenter Elena Malysheva and the Nutrition Institute in Moscow but nobody wanted to deal with 'living corpses'."

Reports state that because of Kokhno's plea, the girls were taken to a hospital in Moscow, nearly 265 miles north of their home in Lipetsk. The model said that the girls' family reached out to her "in despair" which led her to issue a public appeal for the teenagers.

Doctors at the Moscow hospital reportedly said that their current medical task "is to rescue them from a condition when their heart may stop beating at any moment," according to TV channel Moscow24.

"Dasha is slimmer than her sister, Masha has always been a bit more plump," Kakhno said, adding: "But still both twins were told in the (modeling school) to lose five kilos (11lbs) of weight each, so their cheekbones were visible. Both were about 50 kilos (7 st 12 lbs) then."

"The girls began to diet, they did not eat after 5 pm and ate only steamed food. Gradually, their portions and the number of their meals went down. Dasha, who has been perfect in everything, lost her weight down to 36 kg. Masha tried to catch up with her and lost her weight to 40 kg. It was the critical weight for each girl," she continued.

"The sisters were taken to hospital where they injected them with tranquilizers, so Dasha was in a coma for three days. When she woke up, their mother took both girls back home," Kakhno added.