This article was originally published on news.com.au and has been republished here with permission.
A baby in China has been born with 15 fingers and 16 toes in an extreme case of a rare disease.
The three-month-old boy, nicknamed Hong Hong, was born to two migrant workers from the village of Zhongping, in Pingjiang County of China’s central Hunan Province.
The child suffers from an extreme case of polydactyly which is a congenital physical anomaly that can occur in humans, dogs, and cats giving them a larger number of digits on their hands and feet.
Hong Kong has two palms on his hands and not thumbs. Source:australscope
Mum has an extra finger and toe on each hand and foot
Astonishingly, Hong Hong has two palms on his hands and no thumbs.
Zou Chenglin, Hong Hong’s father, said his wife, who works in a factory in Shenzhen City, in southern Guangdong Province, also has polydactylism.
“My wife has one extra finger and toe on each of her hands and feet, so we were worried that our child would inherit the condition,” Zou said.
“But after going to three big hospitals in Shenzhen, doctors found no birth defects on our son during scans.”
Hong Kong’s mum has an extra thumb on each hand. Source:australscope
Hopes for corrective surgery
Now that the shock and disappointment has worn off, the couple are hoping to raise money for their son to have surgery to largely correct the syndrome.
The surgery could cure the polydactylism and hopefully give the boy a chance at a normal childhood, without the stigma and social pressure and difficulties that would accompany having an inordinate amount of fingers and toes.
The family hope they can raise money for Hong Kong to have corrective surgery. Source:australscope
The migrant workers reach out for donations
However, the poor migrant worker family will be unable to raise the 100,000 to 500,000 Yuan($20,000 to $100,00) required for the operation and the post-op recovery.
The family is now trying to reach out to local charities and is hoping that the public will extend a helping hand.
