Jodhpur NGO to adopt Lakshmi

Jodhpur / Bangalore � A Jodhpur based NGO has decided to adopt two-year-old Lakshmi, who underwent a complicated surgery in Bangalore to part with her parasitic conjoined twin, and her family.

Bhairoon Singh Bhati, secretary of Sucheta Kripalani Siksha Niketan (SKSN) - an institute for the rehabilitation of the physically challenged, yesterday said he would leave for Bangalore today to bring Lakshmi and her family to Jodhpur.

SKSN provides free boarding and education to about 500 physically challenged children, mainly victims of polio, at Manaklao village, about 20km from Jodhpur.

"Once Lakshmi recovers fully she would be brought with her family here. Both her mother Poonam and her father Shambhu have given their consent," Bhati said. "I only wish to see the child stand on her feet and get good and proper education," he added.

A conjoined twin is a rare occurrence where both children develop out of the same egg. Lakshmi's case was even more rare because her twin stopped growing after birth, so that each child had her limbs and pelvis, but only Lakshmi had a head. The doctors had decided that Lakshmi had to separated from her twin for her own safety.

ventilator taken off

Meanwhile, the two-year-old child, who had been operated upon for removal of a conjoined twin, was taken off the ventilator yesterday at a super-specialty hospital in Bangalore.

"Lakshmi has been taken off the ventilator completely and has regained consciousness. She looks cheerful. All her parameters continue to remain stable," Sparsh Hospital chairman and chief orthopaedic surgeon, Sharan Patil told reporters. In a medical bulletin on Lakshmi's treatment post-surgery, the hospital said bio-chemical tests and related investigations showed her blood parameters were within the normal limits.

"We started weaning her off the ventilator as she regained consciousness and were able to take her off it completely a few hours later in the afternoon. She is also able to open her eyes and slowly move her fingers and toes," Patil said at a briefing at the hospital here in Narayana Health City, on the outskirts of Bangalore.

Lakshmi has been in the intensive care unit (ICU) for over 54 hours after she was shifted from the operation theatre where a 27-hour complex surgery was conducted by a team of 30 doctors and support staff.

"Lakshmi's condition has continued to remain stable in the ICU since then. We plan to shift her to a special ward after reviewing her condition in the next 24-48 hours." Doctors plan to put Lakshmi on a month-long rehab and physiotherapy schedule to activate her legs and make her walk for the first time in the next two-three months.

Lakshmi's parents - Shambhu and Poonam, who hail from Araria village) in north Bihar, were allowed to spend about 15 minutes with her twice - in the morning and evening.