Lakshmi goes home: Villagers Worship Indian Infant as Mother Goddess

[Guest guest]

Girl Born With 8 Limbs Leaves Hospital

By AIJAZ RAHI

Dec. 15, 2007

 

BANGALORE, India (AP) - A 2-year-old girl who was

born with four arms and four legs left a hospital in southern

India on Saturday, little more than a month after surgeons

successfully removed her extra limbs.

 

The surgeon who led more than 30 doctors in the marathon

surgery said Lakshmi was making good progress and should

be mobile soon.

 

" Lakshmi is fine and stable, " chief surgeon Dr. Sharan Patil

told The Associated Press. " She should face no problem in

walking. "

 

Lakshmi was born joined at the pelvis to a " parasitic twin "

that stopped developing in her mother's womb. The

surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body

parts of the undeveloped twin.

 

A team of more than 30 surgeons performed a 24-hour

operation on Nov. 7 at the Sparsh hospital in Bangalore, the

capital of southern Karnataka state. They removed the extra

limbs, transplanted a kidney from the twin and reconstructed

Lakshmi's pelvic area.

 

" Lakshmi is a hero, " Patil said Saturday.

 

" Lakshmi, who never turned (over) earlier, started turning

after the surgery. She was even able to stand for 10 minutes

on the bed holding the window grill, which is remarkable, "

the Press Trust of India news agency quoted Patil as saying.

 

Lakshmi's parents said they were taking her back to their

rural village in eastern Bihar state where she had been

revered by some as an incarnation of the four-armed Hindu

goddess she was named after.

 

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ioEP8is7RqYTbWBie

4flPm7qJmiAD8THUGDO0

 

, " Devi Bhakta "

<devi_bhakta wrote:

>

> Almost a year ago, I posted a story about Lakshmi, a baby girl born

> with extra limbs (apparently she was the survivor of incompletely

> separated twins) and worshiped by local villagers who considered

her

> to be an avatar of the multi-armed Durga.

>

> This morning, some wonderful news for Lakshmi and her family:

>

> EXTRA LIMBS GONE, BABY LAKSHMI SAYS HELLO:

> 2-Year-Old Indian Girl Doing Well After 24-Hour Operation; Docs

> Optimistic, More Surgery Needed

>

> BANGALORE, India, Nov. 13, 2007 (CBS/AP): Nearly a week after

> surgeons removed the extra limbs from an Indian girl born with four

> arms and four legs, the bright-eyed 2-year-old made her first

public

> appearance Tuesday after leaving the hospital's intensive care

unit.

>

> Swathed in blankets and lying on her father's lap, the girl, named

> Lakshmi, appeared before reporters without the extra limbs which

had

> led some people in her rural village to revere her as an

incarnation

> of the four-armed goddess she was named after.

>

> Looking healthy and alert, Lakshmi had both of her legs in casts

> while her arms were free. After sitting for photographs, her

parents

> quickly ushered her off the stage without speaking to reporters.

>

> Lakshmi's doctors were encouraged by her progress and said she was

> responding well enough to treatment to leave the hospital's

intensive

> care unit.

>

> Everything seems to be working right -- cardiac, the nervous

system,

> respiratory system, and her G.I. system, reports Dave Price of CBS'

> The Early Show.

>

> " She is coping very well and she is stable, " said chief surgeon Dr.

> Sharan Patil. " Lakshmi is safe at the moment. "

>

> Lakshmi had a 25 percent chance of not even surviving the surgery,

> reports Price.

>

> Lakshmi was born joined at the pelvis to a " parasitic twin " that

> stopped developing in her mother's womb. The surviving fetus

absorbed

> the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped twin.

>

> A team of more than 30 surgeons finished a 24-hour operation last

> Wednesday at a hospital in the southern city of Bangalore. They

> removed the extra limbs, transplanted a kidney from the twin and

> reconstructed Lakshmi's pelvic area.

>

> Lakshmi has begun eating solid food again and has been off her

> respirator since Friday, Patil said.

>

> But despite her swift progress, Patil cautioned that Lakshmi still

> had a long way to go toward a full recovery.

>

> " We still have things to do, but so far, so good, " he said.

>

> Lakshmi will need further treatment and possible surgery for

clubbed

> feet before she will be able to walk. Her wounds from surgery are

> still healing and Patil said they will continue to monitor her

> closely.

>

> The casts on her legs are intended to keep her inverted feet

straight

> and the legs together.

>

> He did not say when she might be able to return home.

>

> Children born with deformities in rural India like the remote

village

> in the northern state of Bihar where Lakshmi comes from are often

> viewed as reincarnated gods.

>

> Her father, Shambhu, who only goes by one name, had told reporters

> that her family had been worried for her future before the

operation

> and that he was looking forward to seeing her with " a normal body. "

>

> SOURCE: © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc.

> URL (with PHOTOS, VIDEO and STORY LINKS):

> http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/13/world/main3493648.shtml?

> source=search_story

> or

> TINY URL: http://tinyurl.com/2tp8z7

>

> , " Devi Bhakta "

> <devi_bhakta@> wrote:

> >

> > [it would be nice if we could set up a small fund to help this

> > baby's parents obtain the medical care she needs. Any members

know

> > how this might be facilitated through local relief agencies,

etc? -

> > DB]

> >

> > KOLKATA, India, Nov 14, 2006 (Reuters) - Thousands of people are

> > flocking an Indian village to worship a baby girl born with rare

> > tumours as they believe she is a reincarnation of Durga, the

multi-

> > armed Hindu mother goddess, police said on Tuesday.

> >

> > The tumours on the infant, born in a village in the eastern state

> of

> > Bihar a few weeks ago, looked like extra limbs, drawing locals

from

> > around the region with gifts of fruits and flowers, they said.

> >

> > " People believe the girl is their deliverer, but experts say it

is

> a

> > case of congenital defect, " said Amit Jain, a senior Bihar police

> > officer.

> >

> > Durga is worshipped by millions of Hindus, particularly in

eastern

> > India, as the preserver of life and destroyer of evil.

> >

> > The baby, also named Durga, had been wrapped in a cloth and

> > surrounded by flowers as a stream of visitors, their hands folded

> in

> > prayer, come to her home in Diuri village, 110 km (70 miles)

south

> > of Patna, Bihar's capital.

> >

> > " We hope they understand that the child needs treatment, " Jain

said

> > by phone, adding that her parents were labourers who could not

> > afford medical treatment.

> >

> > SOURCE: Reuters Alert

> > URL: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DEL159248.htm

>