BIHIR, INDIA–A girl born with a full extra set of limbs is believed by some to be the reincarnation of the many-limbed Hindu goddess Lakshmi who the child is named for.
Little Lakshmi Tatma will undergo a 40-hour operation to remove the extra limbs. The girl was born joined to a “parasitic twin.” Thirty surgeons will assist Dr Sharan Patil in the removal of the child’s two useless arms and legs. Lakshmi’s parents, Poonam Devi and Shambu Das, earn very little as labourers and were turned away from several hospitals before Dr. Patil volunteered to help. Without the operation the little girl would never be able to walk or crawl and would be unlikely to live past her early teens, according to doctors.
Lakshmi was born on the day devoted to the celebration of the four-armed Hindu deity Lakshmi. Her mother Poonam Tatma says she believes her daughter is “a miracle, a reincarnation” of the goddess.
Filed under: Health, News Headlines | Tagged: 8-limbed girl, India, parasitic twin
