Meet Baby 'with TWO HEADS' survives gruelling operation to have massive cyst removed

A baby boy born with a cyst so big it looked like he had a second head has survived a six-hour operation to have it removed. Yamanoor Naranal was born in India with a fluid-filled sac on the back of his skull and it grew to huge proportions. And on March 27, he survived a six-hour operation to have the cyst removed.

His devastated parents Karriappa Naranal, 35, and wife Shridevi Naranal, 28, from Tavariyara village, in Karnataka, was told when little Yamanoor was days old that there was no hope of treatment.

The couple visited a government hospital in Kustagi a number of times begging for help but after being continually turned away they lost all hope of ever finding a cure.

Then a health care worker at a health camp suggested Kariappa travels to Bangalore and get the baby checked at a better hospital.

Kariappa, who works as a daily wage laborer on construction sites and earns just 200 Rs per day (£2), said: 

"Many doctors told me there was a 90 per cent chance my baby would die if he had surgery. Doctors said not to risk it because successful surgery was impossible.

"But then we got a ray of hope in Bangalore when a doctor said there was a 50-50 chance of survival so we went for it."

When Yamanoor was admitted to Sapthagiri Hospital, in Karnataka, Bangalore, last month, his cyst was 17 cm-20 cm in diameter, the same size as a baby’s head.

And on March 27, he survived a six-hour operation to have the cyst removed.

Dr Hariprakash Chakravarthy, 38, a neurosurgeon at Sapthagiri Hospital, said: "This condition is born to those mothers who suffer a deficiency of folic acid.

"This deformity is known as occipital encephalocele, and happens when there’s a gap between two bones of the skull, and as the skull develops it grows into a bulge filled with fluid.

"We had very low expectation about the success of the surgery since a young baby cannot afford to lose a lot of blood. Even a 10 ml to 20 ml loss of blood can cause the heart to stop. When we cut the protruding part of the brain it resulted in some blood loss but thankfully nothing bad happened and the little baby survived."

Little Yamanoor was finally discharged from hospital four days ago and is now at home recovering. Kariappa is thankful that his son is in a good condition and on his way to a full recovery. He will be having another operation next month.

Karippa said: "Now he’s doing fine I am so thankful to that care worker. My son will need a check up every three months but all is well. I cannot believe his s