Baby Born With 4 Legs Has 2 Removed, Okay After Miraculous Surgery
Doctors have forever changed the life of one little girl.
A surgical team at Advocate Children’s Hospital, in Park Ridge, Ill., removed two legs from a girl who was born with four of them.
The girl is Dominique, a 10-month-old from the Ivory Coast, who was flown halfway across the globe to rectify the issue. She also had two spines and may have been paralyzed without undergoing surgery.
Doctors removed what's known as a parasitic twin after another baby died in utero.
"It was as if the twin from the waist down had been attached to the back of Dominique’s neck,” Dr. John Ruge said. "There was a pelvis, bladder, and functional legs that moved and feet coming out of the back of Dominique’s neck."
The operation lasted more than six hours and Dominique, who came to the States thanks to the efforts of Children's Medical Mission West, returned to her foster home five days later. She's expected to return to the Ivory Coast as early as next month.