Voice 1
Hello. I’m Marina Santee.
Voice 2
And I’m Ruby Jones. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Hospital workers crowd around. Two worried parents hold each other. The mother puts her hand to her mouth, frightened. They watch the doctors closely. Doctors make the first cut into a small body. It belongs to their daughter - Milagros Cerron. She is just thirteen months old. Tears fill the parents’ eyes. But they know that this operation is necessary. It is their daughter’s only chance of ever walking. She was born with a very rare and deadly condition - serenomelia, or Mermaid Syndrome.
Voice 2
A mermaid is an invented creature. Sailors sometimes used to report seeing mermaids at sea. They would tell stories of the beautiful mermaids living in the sea. You see a mermaid is half human and half fish! A mermaid has a female body from the waist up. But from her waist down, she has a long silver fish’s tail. So she can swim well in the sea. A mermaid is always very beautiful. She has long shiny hair. She sits by rocks near the cool blue sea. Her huge silver tail moves gently in the sea waves.
Voice 1
So what is mermaid syndrome? Well, it is a very rare medical condition. It results from a lack of blood and oxygen to the baby when it is inside the mother. This means that the baby is not able to develop in the normal way. The baby’s legs are stuck together, usually from the ankles to the stomach. Skin and fat cover both legs together. And the feet turn outwards. This makes the shape like a fish’s tail. So, the shape of the baby is like a mermaid.
Voice 2
Milagros Cerron was born with Mermaid Syndrome in April 2004. Her parents are from a small, poor village. It is in the beautiful Andes mountains of Peru. The parents were expecting to have a healthy baby. When Milagros was born they were shocked. They were sad. And they were a little afraid. Local religion and tradition told them that the child’s condition could be a punishment from God. Some people in the village blamed the mother. They said that she must have gone too near the lake when she was pregnant. Village stories say that evil beings live in this lake. Fears and stories like these have deep roots. In the past, such fears have caused parents to leave their children to die. So, it was into this world of false beliefs and fears that Milagros Cerron was born. What chance did she have?
Voice 1
Well, two people were willing to fight for Milagros Cerron. They did not know what was wrong with her. And they did not know why she had been born that way. But they knew she needed help. And their love was stronger than beliefs and fears in their village. The two people were her parents - Ricardo Cerron and Sara Arauco. Milagros was less than a week old. Ricardo lifted their small daughter in his arms. He got on the bus. And he travelled two hundred [200] kilometres to a hospital in Lima.
Voice 2
Ricardo pleaded with the doctors to help his little girl. And in June 2005, doctors began the first of many operations. No-one in Peru had ever performed such an operation before. A team of eight specialists worked together. Doctors inserted salt and water to stretch Milagros’s skin. Then, they separated her legs. They used the stretched skin to cover the wounds.
Voice 1
Doctor Luis Rubio led the operation. Afterwards, he said it was a success. Milagros will need many more operations over the next ten years. Doctors will need to turn her feet inwards. And they will need to repair other parts of her body and organs. However, doctors are very hopeful for the little girl’s future.
Voice 2
This is wonderful news for Milagros and her family. But it is not only good news for them. It is also an important event in the medical world. Mermaid Syndrome is rare. There is only around one case in every seventy thousand [70,000] births. But almost all of these cases have resulted in death, only a few days after birth. In richer countries, pregnant mothers go for scans. A scan machine takes a picture of the baby inside the mother. Doctors can see if the baby is healthy or not. They can also see if the baby has Mermaid Syndrome. If it does, doctors usually advise mothers to end their pregnancy. This is because the death rate of the child is so high. Suppose Milagros was born in a rich area with modern technology. Her chance of life may have ended before she was born .
Voice 1
In Spanish ‘Milagros’ means miracle. It is a perfect name for the little girl. Her father, Ricardo, said he chose it because she is ‘God’s blessing.’ Her story could now save other children. So, she really is a blessing.
Voice 2
Ricardo and his wife never gave up hope for their little girl. The mother said,
Voice 3
‘I prayed to God that everything would turn out all right. I prayed that his blessing would pass to the hands of the doctors.’
Voice 2
Now, they are trusting God for the future. They just want their little girl to have a normal life. Ricardo said,
Voice 3
‘I hope we can go for a walk. I hope that she can go to school by herself. This is what I would like.’
Voice 1
A little girl in bright red clothes laughs happily. She is beautiful. She looks up at her mother with her huge brown eyes. She takes her hand. With her mother’s help, she walks a few slow steps. She reaches the hand of her doctor. People watch in wonder. They cannot believe that this two year old child is Milagros Cerron - the mermaid child! She was the baby that people feared. She was the baby that people thought God had punished! It is clear that this was never the case. As her name suggests, she truly is a blessing. Milagros looks around her and smiles. Maybe she knew it all along. The mermaid baby is gone. Milagros Cerron stands in her place as the miracle girl.
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