Baby girl born with four legs undergoes pioneering surgery to lead normal life

A baby girl born with four legs after her twin died in the womb has undergone a successful operation so she can lead a normal life.

Ten-month-old Dominique was flown from her native Ivory Coast to the US for the surgery at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Park Ridge, Illinois.

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The infant was born with parasitic twin meaning she had four legs and two spines. A team of five surgeons operated on Dominique in a six-hour procedure on March 8.
More than 50 doctors and nurses were involved in her recovery and she is now well enough to return to the foster family who have been caring for her in Chicago.

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Foster mother, Nancy Swabb, said she learned about Dominique on social media and wanted to help. 
The youngster will eventually be reunited with her family in west Africa.
She said: “She’s been a joy. We really enjoyed having her in our family.

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We send a lot of photos and updates and so we know that Dominique’s family sees what she’s doing and seeing that she has two new teeth and she’s learning to wave and doing all sorts of special things.”
Paediatric and reconstructive surgeon Frank Vicari said: “It’s going rather well. She was only in the hospital a total of five days. She’s been home with ‘step-mom’ and just doing very, very well.” 
John Ruge, a paediatric neurosurgeon at the hospital, said: “A parasitic twin is an identical twin that fails to fully separate in development. In other words, not another independent twin, but a twin that was dependent on her body system, such that Dominique’s heart and lungs provided the nourishment.”
Ms Swabb said Dominique can now sit up, raise her hands and reach for things, which she could not do before.

Source :UK Evening Standard