On a normal day, ward 2C, paediatric ward at Mulago hospital has at least 20 children admitted for different ailments – but none like that of three-months-old Paul Mukisa.
For the weeks he has been at this ward, Mukisa remains one of the few unique cases that nurses, neighbours and other parents at the ward have seen in their lifetime.
Lying on his hospital bed, little Mukisa, comes off as a normal child – if you chose to just look at his face, arms and legs – all moving normally. His mother Margaret Awino cannot hide her joy as she repeatedly thanks the doctors who performed a ‘miracle’ on her child.
“I still can’t believe that my child is normal. I didn’t know what to do with him but I am very happy he was operated for free,” said Mukisa’s mother.
But until two weeks ago, Mukisa had extra two legs, extra two arms and something else that looked like a chest but did not fully develop to become one, a condition medics called parasitic twin.
The condition only occurs when an undeveloped or underdeveloped twin is attached to parts of the body of the twin that develops and is birthed.
According to Dr Nasser Kakembo, one of the surgeons that operated on the child, several other anomalies were revealed, including the heart and liver which were located on the wrong side.
“Whenever a baby is born with an abnormality, we don’t take it for granted because we believe that there are other hidden abnormalities which is why we take time to investigate before we make a decision to either do surgery immediately or wait,” said Dr Kakembo.
In future, Mukisa may need to undergo another surgery to make him walk better. Before that, he will walk but with a wide gait because of the gap between his legs, according to Dr Kakembo.
