For all the controversy in the news on the medical industry, once in a while there are incidents that are causes for celebration. They speak on how hard humans work to save the life of another, even when the odds are low. This is one such case of a baby with six legs given a second lease in life.
In Pakistan, a child was born with a rare condition that resulted in him having six legs. Unfortunately, Imran Sheikh, the child’s father, was earning a meager salary and could not afford expenses over the child’s treatment. When he sounded out his desperate cause to save his son, his case reached the ears of the government. The government took responsibility and assured the troubled parents that it would provide all the support for the treatment of the baby.
The one-in-a-million disease that led to the baby with six legs
It was in the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) that NICH Director Dr Jamal Raza stated that the child was not a single baby but instead there were two children in one body, and one of them was premature. Raza added that it was a genetic disease that was found in only 1 child out of a million.
It was a case of parasitic conjunction that caused four extra limbs to form, causing him to become a baby with 6 legs. Before the team of surgeons could operate, they had to work out which of the limbs belonged to the baby and which to his twin.
Success and joy
After MRI, blood test and CT scan reports, the doctors decided to embark on a delicate eight-hour operation, performed in different stages.
On 19 April, the team of five doctors successfully finished the operation, giving a second lease of life to the previously afflicted baby with six legs. The baby’s father, Imran Shaikh, was ecstatic, and he said that he prayed that his child’s life ‘remains normal and joyful’.
Click here to watch the rare video.
