The people of her rural Indian village did not see this as a deformity. They believed that she was a ‘gift from God’, christened her ‘Lakshmi‘ after the four-armed Hindu Goddess of wealth, and queued outside the house to be blessed by the girl.

But the actual cause of the extra limbs was that the girl had a twin who hadn’t fully developed and instead became attached to Lakshmi’s body at the pelvis.

Lakshmi made headlines around the world last month when a team of surgeons spent 27 hours removing the extra limbs, separating her spinal cord and kidney from the twin, re-orientating the bladder and genital systems, and then closing up the pelvic girdle.

It was an amazing story with a heartwarming ending…

Now, just three months after the surgery, she is taking her first steps. According to Sharan Patil, chief orthopedic surgeon and chairman of Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore where the surgery was performed, Lakshmi is ‘… “now moving with a walker, holding onto objects — a table, a chair — and moving a little bit…”

Now you can watch Lakshmi’s journey on National Geographic Channel this coming Sunday (22 June) at 9pm Pacific.

If, like me, you can’t get the National Geographic Channel you can still get learn more about Lakshmi by visiting National Geographic online.

View the picture gallery, read a Q&A with Doctor Sharan Patil (lead surgeon), and see a preview of the hour long episode at the National Geographic website.

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ABC News has an amazing slide show of medical abnormalities and medical miracles. We’ve featured a few here at Healthbolt, like Tree Man, the two-faced baby, and the world’s largest and shortest men, but there are many, many more. Warning, though: viewer discretion is definitely advised, especially if you don’t want to get knee-deep in discussions of “why does that happen?” with the kids.

Staggering visuals that’ll make you feel blessed, indeed…

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Could you take a knife to your throat and cut? Not sure I could, but this man has done so, not once but twice. And in doing so, has become his own savior. Seems his throat swelled up to the point where he could not breathe and afraid that the emergency services would not arrive in time, decided to perform a little ‘life saving’ surgery.

Dead, not Dead…

Her heart stopped despite intensive medical treatment following two heart attacks. She had no brain waves for 17 hours and rigor mortis seemed to be setting in. The family said their goodbyes and the patient remained hooked up to the ventilator while possible organ donation was discussed. But it seemed Val Thomas had other ideas. She suddened ‘awoke’ and started talking. She is, according to the doctors, a medical miracle.

Solar Powered Bra…

Japanese inventors are at it again with another bizarre invention. This time they have come up with a unique way to raise awareness of global warming – an environmentally friendly bra. Designed to conserve energy, it’s able to generate enough power to charge an iPod or cell phone. There’s a few hitches though. You can’t wear clothing over it, it cannot be washed, and will get damaged in the rain.

Underwear that monitors blood pressure…

The Philips consumer electronics company want to create underwear that can constantly monitor a person’s blood pressure. Apparently, the sensors embedded in the waist of the underpants would be able to measure the ‘electrical impedance of the tissue beneath it – a property that changes as the pulse wave passes by.’

And finally…

How about a real life iron man that would be able to keep the body active and safe while it’s recovering from injury. That’s the idea behind this robotic suit, a sleek white ecoskeleton that is in the works at Cyberdine, Inc.

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Free Viagra

Now here’s a politician that really cares about his constituents. Gonzalo Navarette Munoz, mayor of a municipality near the Chilean capital Santiago, wants to improve the quality of life for the older people in the working class suburb of Lo Prado by handing out potency pills.

Jailhouse Menu – could this be the next new diet?

Do you believe this? An inmate in an Arkansas jail awaiting trial on a murder charge is suing the county jail for weight loss. Apparently he’s lost over 100 pounds in the last eight months because of the food he is being given. Now he only weighs 308 pounds. You’d think he’d be happy with the weight loss. Go figure…

Wanted: Women to eat chocolate for a year

Personally, I think the heading says it all. Just tell me where to sign up…

‘Pixie Dust’ From Pig’s Bladder Regrows Man’s Finger

Okay, so it’s not really ‘pixie dust’. The experimental powder that has helped a man’s severed finger regrow to its original length in just four weeks is really ‘extra-cellular matrix’ made from a dried pig’s bladder. But doesn’t ‘Pixie Dust’ sounds so much more magical.  No matter what you call it, it seems to be working.

And finally…

Dinosaur Dung as a motivational tool ?

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