** MEET DIDIER - THE TURTLE BOY ** A boy’s mole grew so big that by the age of six it covered his entire back like a turtle’s shell, earning him the nickname of Turtle Boy The rare birthmark - congenital melanocytic nevus – affects around 1 in 20,000 newborn babies but a top surgeon described Didier Montalvo’s condition as the worst he’d ever seen. Didier’s life was severely affected by the growth, covering more than half of his body circumference, both in the painful itchiness of his skin and how it affected his confidence. He and his family were shunned by villagers in his home in rural Colombia in South America and his mother Luz was even told it was her fault for looking at a solar eclipse while pregnant. But his life changed in 2012, when his touching story was featured in a local newspaper and a flood of donations poured in for surgery. GOSH surgeon Neil Bulstrode has operated on dozens of children – but never one as extreme as Didier’s. However, it did not stop Mr Bulstrode wanting to help remove the growth - and let Didier ditch the Turtle Boy nickname which was eventually a successful operation. :)
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 03:30:00 +0000
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