Pakistan doctors save life of baby with six legs

The extra limbs are the result of a rare genetic disease which would affect only one in a million or more babies.

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Agence France-Presse

Thu, Apr 19 2012 at 3:41 PM

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Medicine, Science

SIX LEGS: "It is not one baby actually. They are two, one of them is premature," said Jamal Raza, the director of National Institute of the Child Health in Karachi. (Photo: AFP)

Doctors in Pakistan say they have successfully operated to save the life of a baby born with six legs due to a rare genetic condition, hospital officials said April 19.

"A team of five experienced doctors have successfully separated the extra legs and limbs from the baby today. He is very much safe and secure," said Jamal Raza, the director of National Institute of the Child Health in Karachi.

The infant was born to the wife of an X-ray technician a week ago.

"It is not one baby actually. They are two, one of them is premature," he said.

Raza said it was a case of parasitic conjunction — more than one baby joined together but only one of them fully formed.

Imran Shaikh, the baby's father who lives in Sukkur, around 280 miles north of Karachi, said he was grateful his son was being treated.

"We are a poor family. I am thankful to the government for helping us treating my baby," he told the media on April 16

"It is great news for us. What the parents want is to see their kids healthy and strong. We pray his life remains normal and joyful," he told reporters following the news of the successful operation.