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Schoolgirl Born With Extra Arms On Her Torso To Have Them Removed

Schoolgirl Born With Extra Arms On Her Torso To Have Them Removed

The 14-year-old girl has lived her whole life with the unwanted extra limbs after her would-be twin failed to develop in her mother's womb.

Nathan Standley

Nathan Standley

A schoolgirl in the Philippines with two extra arms and malformed fingers hanging from her torso is to have surgery to get the unwanted appendages removed.

Veronica Cominguez, from Iligan City, was born with the extra limbs and an oblong-shaped growth attached to her stomach. The body parts belong to her parasitic twin, which failed to develop properly in her mother's womb.

The 14-year-old schoolgirl has seen the parasitic limbs grow with her, and she even takes time to clean them and trim the nails.

Viral Press

Veronica said the limbs are heavy and can inhibit her movement, and even leak.

She said: "When I was little, I thought it was just a foot. But as I grew up, it became bigger.

"It keeps swinging. My dress often gets wet."

But now, after years of dealing with her undeveloped 'twin' growing out of her body, locals have raised money for Veronica to go and have surgery in neighbouring Thailand to get it removed.

Viral Press

Veronica's mother Flora said the family have a history of producing twins, and even though she had not had a proper visit to a doctor during her pregnancy, she was expecting twins and had even given them both names.

But the hopeful mother had not expected that one would be undeveloped and give her otherwise healthy daughter two parasitic limbs.

She said the discharge that comes out of Veronica's protrusions can sometimes contain blood.

She said: "The liquid that comes out of the opening smells bad, like human excretion."

But luckily for Veronica and her mother, Veronica's doctor at the Philippines Children's Medical Centre, Dr Beda Espineda, said the surgery was a simple procedure that would get rid of her unwanted limbs without much trouble.

He said: "Most of these cases can be removed because, usually, the body structures involved are not vital.

"Most of them are just attached to the skin or bones. For surgeons, it is easy to remove."

Viral Press

A spokesperson from the Barangay council of Kabacsanan said: "It has been arranged for Veronica to have an operation and we hope that she will live a normal, healthy life after this.

"Life has not been easy for her but she's a very sensible, clever and mature girl.

"She's a wonderful pupil. Everyone is very pleased for her that she can soon have an operation."

Veronica is now waiting to make the journey for her life-changing surgery in the coming weeks.

Featured Image Credit: Viral Press

Topics: World News, Interesting