Eight-Limbed Child Believed To Be The Reincarnation of Vishnu

A toddler born with eight limbs and believed by some to be the reincarnation of the multi-limbed Hindu goddess Vishnu, is set to undergo a 40-hour operation to remove half of her limbs. Lakshmi Tatma was born joined to a 'parasitic twin' and will go under the knife at the hands of 30 surgeons to remove two of her useless arms and legs.

The headless 'twin' is joined to Lakshmi at the pelvis and has its own spinal column and kidney. Without the operation the little girl would never be able to walk or crawl and would be unlikely to live past her early teens, doctors said in an interview.

The extraordinary eight-limbed baby was born in a poverty-stricken region of Bihar, India - on the day devoted to the celebration of the four-armed Hindu deity Vishnu. Her mother Poonam Tatma said she believed her daughter was "a miracle, a reincarnation" of Vishnu.

Dr. Sharan Patil, who will be leading the surgery at the country's Narayana Health City, in Bangalore, said: "Fortunately, Lakshmi has one complete body with a near perfect set of organs. "Her skeletal system involves two bodies which are fused together at the level of the pelvis. The operation itself, although presents several challenges, is not the most complex in the world. What is highly unusual in Lakshmi's case is precisely how her bodies are fused, almost mirroring each other."

Parents Poonam Devi and Shambu Das, who earn about $1 a day as casual labourers, were turned away from several hospitals before her plight was taken up by Dr. Patil. The operation is expected to cost about $208,000.

Poonam, who gave birth to Lakshmi on the celebration day of the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth and prosperity after whom the new born was named, said: "She is a miracle, a special blessing from God. But she is my daughter and she cannot live like this."