Over at Guardian UK, they have video of the girl with four legs and four arms who is about to have surgery to get a “normal” body. Lots of thoughts about this, especially if you’re like me and you believe in superheroes and cyborgs… Snip:
Doctors in India today began operating on a two-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs in surgery they hope will leave her with a normal body, a hospital official said.
The girl is joined to a “parasitic twin” who stopped developing in her mother’s womb, while the surviving foetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the twin. The rare condition is called isciopagus.
The girl, Lakshmi, is named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth, and some in her home village in the northern state of Bihar revere her as a goddess.
“All this expenditure has happened to make her normal,” her father, Shambhu, who goes by one name, said. “So far, everything is fine.”
Link.
Update: It was a 24-hour operation that apparently went very well. A summary and photos of Lakshmi post-surgery are here.
DEAR LASHIMI AND FAMILY,
WE ARE ALL SENDING THE BEST OF LUCK FOR QUICK RECOVERY OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER.
BEST REGARDS
ISB/ 7TH GRADE SCIENCE CLASS