Three Year Old Smiles after operations to reduce her over-sized head [ PHOTOS]
A toddler whose head swelled to three times its normal size is
smiling for the first time after surgery to reduce the circumference
from 37 to 23 inches. Three-year-old Roona Begum was rushed to hospital
in New Delhi, India, last year, suffering an extreme form of
hydrocephalus – water on the brain.
Surgeons carried out a series of operations to reduce the size of Roona’s head, but she was discharged home, her parents warned she had little chance of survival. But this week medics were shocked to find that not only is Roona alive, she is starting to smile and laugh.
‘The doctors said she would not live – but she has survived,’ said Roona’s mother Fatima Khatun, 23.
‘She is much better now. She can hold her head straight and she can move her head from side to side on her own. She responds to other kids and she will smile if other kids call out her name.’
She added: ‘I would be very happy if she could stand and talk and be like a normal child. We hope she will one day go to school.
Roona’s progress has been so good that Dr Vaishya now wants to proceed with yet another operation to further reduce the size of her head.
But her concerned father Abdul Rahman, 21, who has seen her brought back from the brink several times, is worried about the risks.
‘My wife has been through a lot with Roona’s condition and in the past people have suggested we give her away to an orphanage or an ashram [a type of spiritual monastery],’ said the illiterate bricklayer, who earns just £2 a day.
‘But we say no. My wife says – “This is my baby. If she lives, she will live with us. If she dies, it will be my lap”.’
‘So if the doctors can guarantee the surgery will definitely make her better and make her able to sit up, talk and be like a normal kid, then we would want it.But if they cannot give us that assurance, then we don’t need it. We would much rather let her be as she is.
Surgeons carried out a series of operations to reduce the size of Roona’s head, but she was discharged home, her parents warned she had little chance of survival. But this week medics were shocked to find that not only is Roona alive, she is starting to smile and laugh.
‘The doctors said she would not live – but she has survived,’ said Roona’s mother Fatima Khatun, 23.
‘She is much better now. She can hold her head straight and she can move her head from side to side on her own. She responds to other kids and she will smile if other kids call out her name.’
She added: ‘I would be very happy if she could stand and talk and be like a normal child. We hope she will one day go to school.
Roona’s progress has been so good that Dr Vaishya now wants to proceed with yet another operation to further reduce the size of her head.
But her concerned father Abdul Rahman, 21, who has seen her brought back from the brink several times, is worried about the risks.
‘My wife has been through a lot with Roona’s condition and in the past people have suggested we give her away to an orphanage or an ashram [a type of spiritual monastery],’ said the illiterate bricklayer, who earns just £2 a day.
‘But we say no. My wife says – “This is my baby. If she lives, she will live with us. If she dies, it will be my lap”.’
‘So if the doctors can guarantee the surgery will definitely make her better and make her able to sit up, talk and be like a normal kid, then we would want it.But if they cannot give us that assurance, then we don’t need it. We would much rather let her be as she is.
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