Karnataka Chief Minister meets Lakshmi
Thursday, November 15, 2007

Bangalore, Nov 15 (ANI): Karnataka Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa met Lakshmi on Wednesday evening, days after she underwent a surgery to separate her 'parasitic conjoined twin'.

Yeddyurappa presented Lakshmi's father with a cheque of 100,000 rupees and applauded the doctors' efforts.

"Congratulations to Dr. Sharan Patil and his team of doctors for this humanitarian act. Baby Lakshmi is back to normal and it's a sort of rebirth. Sparsh Hospital, Dr. Sharan Patil and his dedicated team of doctors have done the state, the country, and also Bangalore city proud," he said.

Lakshmi, a two-year-old girl, on Tuesday made her first public appearance after undergoing the surgery.

A team of around 30 medics removed what amounted to Lakshmi Tatma's headless identical twin sister who was joined at the pelvis and who did not develop and separate properly in the womb -- an extremely rare case, in a risky operation that began on November 6.

Lakshmi, who was born with four arms, four legs and extra internal organs, was expected to be in the operating theatre for 40 hours, but the surgery was over within 27 hours.

Besides the removal of the extra limbs, Lakshmi's deformed pelvis and spine were also corrected and her redundant extra organs were removed, doctors said.

Doctors said the surgery was worth the risk, saying that Lakshmi, who could not walk on her deformed limbs, would have otherwise had little chance of living past adolescence.

The operation is considered extremely complicated and rare in the country's medical history.

Lakshmi's parents, who are poor labourers hailing from Bihar, are not financially strong to bear the surgery cost. They told newspapers that they had refused offers from circus owners to buy their daughter.

The hospital said it was covering the cost of the surgery. (ANI)
- AY