PERU’S LITTLE MERMAID ~ HAS SUCCESSFUL SURGERY

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) – Doctors successfully separated on Wednesday the fused legs of a Peruvian baby girl known as the “Little Mermaid,” in a risky operation they hope will help her to walk by her second birthday.

Thirteen-month-old Milagros Cerron was born with a rare defect called Mermaid syndrome, or sirenomelia, which often kills sufferers within a few hours of birth. This is the first of two operations she will have to undergo if she is to walk.