2/5/2005: Peruvian "mermaid baby"

She's nine-month-old Milagros Cerron. She's got this rare condition called "mermaid syndrome"; not really that rare, it's just rare for a baby to survive this long. 1-in-60,000 to 100,000 babies are born with sirenomelia, apparently, and most complications are fatal.

Somehow this girl has survived and she is going to have risky surgery to separate and correct her legs.

How sad. Hope she does well.

full story

poor child :(
the article says she's being treated in a City Hall-funded mobile "solidarity hospital" run out of old buses in a poor northern district of Lima.
not exactly the best conditions for the surgery where they will try to seperate her to take place.
apparently there was another case like this where the girl survivedd

I heard that she became a talented and beautiful swimmer -- who would spread her legs for no man.

Wow -- Torrere, check your ticket. Does yours say "17B"? If so, you caught a seat next to me on your trip to hell. Don't bug me while I'm pretending to sleep, okay?

Have Tom Jones or Julio Iglesias sing to her. :biggrin:

Ok, I'm sorry, but I gotta ask....

How does she take a crap?


(Aisle seat, if you please!)

mrputter wrote:

...How does she take a crap?

In the full story link it says she has an anus.

Milagros, who weighs 17 lbs (7.5 kg) and is 24 inches (60 cm) long, has a rudimentary anus, urethra and genitalia all located together.

Where those are located is anyones guess. :eyebrow:

I can fathom the operation to separate her legs.
It takes quite an imagination to visualize how they will separate her anus, urethra, and genetalia.
I guess that in her current condition, personal hygeine is practically unacheivable.
If the surgeons can't figure that one out, I'll bet noone would WANT her to spread her legs.........................

You always hear about these kind of birth defects in third world countries. Wonder if the family lived near a chemical plant or dump site. :yelsick:

(Aisle seat, if you please!)

We could carpool to the River Styx!

I believe her name, Milagros, means "miracles". Here's hoping she gets some. She's a beautiful child, and no one deserves such a horrid deformity. Come on, medical science.

Elspode wrote:

I believe her name, Milagros, means "miracles".

It does. Hopefully the fact that her situation is getting some press will get some expert doctors involved in this. She's definitely a pretty little thing, I hope she can get some good help.

404Error wrote:

In the full story link it says she has an anus.



Where those are located is anyones guess. :eyebrow:

My guess is at the front. Dolphins and whales have a ventral opening (I think it's called a cloaca, or is that just for birds?) and I reckon that since we're all mammals these things will follow the same basic structure.

I bet good cash money that some hospital here in the States will fund the family to come here and have the surgery done...it's happened before for Siamese twins and other birth deformities. Especially when said generosity gets good press for the hospital in question.

Brian

BrianR wrote:

I bet good cash money that some hospital here in the States will fund the family to come here and have the surgery done...it's happened before for Siamese twins and other birth deformities. Especially when said generosity gets good press for the hospital in question.

Brian

Well of course, we're the great white enemy until something like this comes along.

BrianR wrote:

I bet good cash money that some hospital here in the States will fund the family to come here and have the surgery done...it's happened before for Siamese twins and other birth deformities. Especially when said generosity gets good press for the hospital in question.

Brian

First, this is so sad. Imagine how the parents must feel. I feel awful that Elfin Bedwe'er was hurling his little guts out today. (bug?) But this? Shit.

But on to BrianR: I know someone who lived in NYC up near 168th street a few decades ago. She unwisely tried to break up a dog fight (her dogs) with her bare hands. Or arm as it was.

CHOMP!

She said at 2:00 am at the E.R. she was whisked ahead of all the gunshot and knife wounds and found herself surrounded by nearly every intern (is that the right word?) in the hospital, because unlike gun and knife wounds which were so commonplace, hardly any of them had seen a dog bite.

I guess with all the pit bull chic these days that may have changed.

So, in a round about way, yeah, I bet you're right. It might make good training and it couldn't hurt our image in the international press.

Troubleshooter wrote:

Well of course, we're the great white enemy until something like this comes along.

AMEN! :thumbsup:

footfootfoot wrote:

...and it couldn't hurt our image in the international press.

You know what? Fuck the international press. I'm tired of America being seen as a cash/technology/medicine tap that can be turned on and off.

I'm also tired of American institutions and politicians pandering to foreign interest as well.

Well of course, we're the great white enemy until something like this comes along.

Last time I checked, Peru wasn't calling us anything of the sort... And to the people who think we're the great white enemy, we remain so even when we help a little disabled Peruvian girl.

Troubleshooter wrote:

You know what? Fuck the international press. I'm tired of America being seen as a cash/technology/medicine tap that can be turned on and off.

I'm also tired of American institutions and politicians pandering to foreign interest as well.

TS,
I agree, and while we're at it, fuck the domestic press too. Ballgags for everyone! Don't get me started.

Troubleshooter wrote:

I'm also tired of American institutions and politicians pandering to foreign interest as well.

OK, YOU go tell the mermaids mother. :eyebrow:
Besides the Doctors like to do things like this to get away from bunions and hemroids.

If you travel in places like Peru you often find yourself the focus of amazingly positive attention and not just because you have money. I travelled alone in Mexico by bus at one point and people took turns coming to sit by me. Most wanted to try to speak the little english they knew to me, some wanted to know how I lived, some flirted, a couple shared their packed lunches. They might hate us enmass but most would give their right arms to be us.

Bump ... See beginning of thread for context.
I happened upon this thread ... Blame SteveDallas

Googled the girls name from the original post and found this.
There are also some YouTube videos.

What a wonderful story.

Here's a pic I also found

Wonderful!