Roona Begum, the 22-month-old Indian baby who recently made headlines for possessing an abnormally large head which is triple the size of a normal baby's, is recovering after undergoing a series of operations to reduce her head size.
Earlier in August, a team of surgeons at Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) conducted five surgeries on the the child's skull, the cerebral shunt, and drained out nearly ten litres of excess fluid, making the brain size shrink from 94 centimetres to 58 centimetres, CNN reported.
Roona, who hails from Jirania Khola in Agartala, was diagnosed with a rare medical condition known as Hydrocephalus, shortly after her birth in 2011. Hydrocephalus, commonly referred to as "water on the brain", is the abnormal accumulation of cerebral fluid in the brain that causes a baby's head to swell up and grow bigger than the average size.
Doctors had little hope for the girl's survival. However, Roona continued to live even after her first birthday. But with a heavy head, she hardly was able to move herself.
Roona is the only child of Abdul Rehman, who works in a brick factory, and wife Fatima. Though she had been referred to a specialist in Kolkata a few months after her condition was diagnosed, her father who earns a daily wage of just ₹150, dropped the idea as he couldn't afford the huge cost involved in the treatment.
Roona's condition gained wide attention from across the world in April. A crowd funding campaign initiated by two Norwegian students, Jonas Borchgrevink and Nathalie Krantz, raised $52,000 for Roona's treatment, Daily Mail reported.
After the surgeries, Roona has started moving her head freely and is able to see properly.
The total cost of the surgeries came to Rs 30 lakh was supported by Fortis Foundation, Times of India reported.
While doctors are planning to conduct another surgery after six months, Roona's parents are overjoyed with their daughter's developments.
"It feels really good to see her now, she looks beautiful and happy," her mother Fatima told CNN. "We want Roona to read and write once she grows up. Both of us (mother and father) are illiterate so we don't want her to be like us. We want her to have a bright future."
