Posted by Helen on: 11.07.2007 /
Yesterday a team of 36 doctors in India did a lengthy operation on a two year old with two extra arms and legs. She was this way because the partly developed body of a twin – consisting only of limbs, torso and internal organs – was fused to her at the pelvis. Lakshmi could move all her limbs but she couldn’t walk.
Lakshmi was in the hospital for a month first to build up her strength; when she first came in she was malnourished and had a low hemoglobin count. The operation was complex: doctors needed to make a break in the one spinal cord joining her to the partial body and then move one of her kidneys, which was previously located partly in each body. A lot of reconstruction and skin grafts were required also.
The head surgeon has reported that the operation went very well. She’s now under observation to make sure no complications develop.
Lakshmi is from a remote village in India where she was revered as an incarnation of the goddess of wealth, her namesake, because of her eight limbs. Since she was a goddess rather than suffering a birth deformity, the villagers didn’t want her to have the surgery. This is an example of where religion becomes cruel, in my opinion. Her parents definitely wanted it. Assuming everything continues to go well this will extend Lakshmi’s life and hopefully she will be physically able to walk once she is recovered.
There was no way her parents could have afforded the surgery. The head surgeon, Dr Patil, read of her story in a local newspaper and decided to offer her medical help free of charge.