8 limbed girl set for op

[faceless]

Toddler with eight limbs branded 'reincarnation of Hindu god'
5th November 2007

A toddler born with eight limbs and believed by some to be the reincarnation of the multi-limbed Hindu goddess Vishnu, is set to undergo a 40-hour operation to remove half of her limbs. Lakshmi Tatma was born joined to a 'parasitic twin' and will go under the knife at the hands of 30 surgeons to remove two of her useless arms and legs.

The headless 'twin' is joined to Lakshmi at the pelvis and has its own spinal column and kidney. Without the operation the little girl would never be able to walk or crawl and would be unlikely to live past her early teens, doctors said. The extraordinary eight-limbed baby was born in a poverty-stricken region of Bihar, India - on the day devoted to the celebration of the four-armed Hindu deity Vishnu. Her mother Poonam Tatma said she believed her daughter was "a miracle, a reincarnation" of Vishnu.

Dr Sharan Patil, who will be leading the surgery at the country's Narayana Health City, in Bangalore, said: "Fortunately, Lakshmi has one complete body with a near perfect set of organs. Her skeletal system involves two bodies which are fused together at the level of the pelvis. The operation itself, although presents several challenges, is not the most complex in the world. What is highly unusual in Lakshmi's case is precisely how her bodies are fused, almost mirroring each other."

The Hindu god Vishnu is the preserver and protector of creation

Parents Poonam Devi and Shambu Das, who earn about 50p a day as casual labourers, were turned away from several hospitals before her plight was taken up by Dr Patil. The operation is expected to cost about £100,000. Poonam, who gave birth to Lakshmi on the celebration day of the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity after whom the new born was named, said: "She is a miracle, a special blessing from God. But she is my daughter and she cannot live like this."

Laskhmi is the subject of a Channel 4 documentary as part of the Bodyshocks series.

[luke]

i hope the operation goes alright - i'll have to watch that documentary

[nekokate]

Yikes! I hope the operation goes well. My thoughts and wishes are with the family.

However, it always intrigues me how, in so many cases of a child being born either deformed or with some other problem, the parents often say "he/she is a blessing/gift from God". Is that maybe a psychological coping mechanism for the parents? Because obviously a deformed child is not a blessing, is it?

I'm straying towards a Karl Pilkington argument here, but think about it - I mean, what God would say "I really like the Smith family, so I'll make them have a kid with five heads and a tail"? That is not a blessing.

Interesting psychological phenomenon how so many people view it as such.

[faceless]

I'm more intrigued by the fact that the bottom half is basically a headless body!

[nekokate]

I'm also intrigued by how they know it's a girl. And how they are planning on constructing the necessary... erm... parts. And how does she wee????

[luke]

i remember seeing some documentary once, in the olden days things like this and siamese twins etc were seen as special - but maybe like you said neko, and especially back then with limited scientific understanding, it was just a way of explaining it

the weirdest documentary i saw was about some kid, he had his own twin brother - or what should have been, in his stomach. they took it out in the end, they never showed it all in one go so you could see it, just bits - it had hair and teeth, so strange - really really weird

[Skylace]

My thoughts go to her and her family. I hope it all goes well.

[Marcella-FL]

The anomalies of the human form never cease to amaze me.

[Aja]

[luke]

i thought i'd use this thread to show you my little niece jasmines leg - she was born like this! it was mad, almost like a right angle, so her foot was nearly pointing upwards!

sine then though its almost straightened out, its still a bit off, but its never stopped her doing anything, she walks fine and runs about, climbs the stars hiding crisps all over the house etc

my only concern for her is that she'll get bullied or picked on when she starts school, but shes a tough little girl

[Marcella-FL]

[luke]

it was the bone, almost like she didn't have enough space to grow so it grew at a weird angle - the knee and ankle joint are fine. they was going to do some operation, but want to wait until the bones had finished developing - i always thought it would be better to do it when she was young, baby bones are quite soft i thought. she had this metal kinda brace for a bit - she didn't like that, but it helped it out a lot.

i've tried to find a picture of her leg now but don't really have a good one - she doesn't stay still long enough now to get a decent photo!

[nekokate]

[luke]

my niece ( details and pic above ) went into hospital on tuesday and has had this mad painful looking contraption attached to her leg its got wires and stuff running right through the bones in her leg, and 4 times a day they have to tightened. she has to wear it for three months, and hopefully by then it'll be as alright as its ever going to get ...

she's not best pleased about it! understandably, it looks like some torture device from one of the saw movies. i can't image how painful its got to be, plus she has to be in a wheelchair

[faceless]

my wee nephew had to have something similar after he was born - these days (he's 12) you'd never know he ever had something wrong... it worked a treat

I'm sure your niece will be fine - all the best to her!