Coalescence is a phenomenon observed where a large family of cracks is present in a specimen. It is very different from a pure growth situation since the coalescence of multiple cracks will produce a long crack far quicker than it would take for a short crack to develop to such a length through the mechanism of growth alone. For this reason it is useful to model the phenomenon of crack coalescence. This is done with a view to extending the physical insight which is the foundation for the growth model. A statistical analysis carried out on data of crack formation in orthopaedic hip replacements forms the inspiration for progress in this part of the research.