Surgeons separate legs of little ‘mermaid’

Monte Hayes

Doctors performing the four-and-a-half hour surgery had planned to begin repairing the birth defect only up to the child’s knees, but the procedure exceeded the expectations of the medical team.

“This is the final result that we have come to in this extraordinary surgical intervention,” said Dr Luis Rubio, holding up 13-month-old Milagros Cerron’s legs in a V-shape, displaying the line of stitches extending up from her heels to her inner thighs. “We have mobility of the independent knee joints.”