Girl born with her 'Heart in hand'

November 14, 2005

IANS

RAIPUR -- A baby girl was born in a Chhattisgarh town with her heart in her hand. Her poor parents, however, say they cannot afford the emergency heart transplant, as suggested by the doctors.

The baby was born to Sushila Bai and Jagdish Yadav, residents of Korba, 210 km north of here. Doctors have recommended a heart transplant but the parents have no money to take her to Chennai for the operation.

Though mother Sushila delivered the baby at her home, they brought the newborn to a nursing home after finding her hand on the throbbing heart that was stuck between neck and left side of the bone collar.

Doctors separated the hand from the heart as it was not attached to the heart and suggested an early heart transplantation at Chennai's Apollo Hospital.

"While the child has a fully developed heart, the organ is located between the neck and collar bone," Korba district's chief medical officer S.K. Pambhoi told IANS.

"She has an underdeveloped heart wall which needs urgent medical attention and over Rs.200,000 for heart transplantation and related expenditure," Dr. Pambhoi added.

The newborn's father Jagdish, employed with a local printing press, earns only Rs.2000 a month and cannot afford the transplantation.

"I know of the girl born with heart held by hand in city. But I am waiting for an application from the Yadav family to provide help under the government's Sanjeevani scheme meant for below poverty line families," Korba district collector Gaurav Dwivedi told IANS.

Meanwhile residents are gathering at the Yadav house here to have a glimpse of this unusual baby. Some are even describing the girl as "God's representative".

This article posted December 12, 2005

Girl born with her 'Heart in hand'

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