Brave toddler who had half her brain removed learns to walk
By ANITuesday, February 1, 2011
LONDON - A toddler has learnt to walk after having half her brain removed to stop her suffering 50 seizures a day.
Two-year-old Katie Verdecchia has Aicardi syndrome - an inherited neurological condition that cause brain malformation, in which the structure connecting the two sides of her brain are missing.
While Aicardi’s usually affects the whole brain, for Katie it was concentrated on the right side, reports the Daily Mail.
Her parents Maryalicia and Brian from Portland, Oregon, decided to allow surgeons to perform a radical operation to remove the malformed side, after they were told it would give her best chance to live a normal life.
And just two and a half weeks after the surgery, Katie delighted her family by taking her first steps.
“She is standing alone and unassisted for 1-2 minutes at a time. She is bending over to play with toys and gotten herself off the floor once with pulling herself up on something,” Katie’s mother said.
“She can also now, turn on her iPad, unlock it, AND pick apps to play,” she said.
Her mom reported that Katie seems happier and is smiling more and focusing for longer. There is even a possibility that she may learn to speak.
“Kids with Aicardi’s generally already have speech problems. In this case the left side of her brain, which is usually used for lanuage, is still there. All we can do it wait and see what develops,” Katie’s neurosurgeon, Dr Gary Mathern, told The Today Show. (ANI)
