When Jacob Duffy was born, his parents Rachael Hendry and John Duffy were shocked when they saw that he had an extra digit on each hand and each foot, meaning he had a total of 12 fingers and 12 toes.
However, it wasn’t only Jacob’s parents who were shocked as medical professionals in the UK were also baffled as to what to do with the child.
As Rachael explained to reporters, “We were shocked when he was born and saw his little finger – at first we just thought that he had broken it. My pregnancy was completely normal then we counted the digits and that was the first time we noticed something was wrong. We joked around a bit at first and said that at least he will be good on the piano but obviously we quickly realised that things were a bit more serious.”
Joking aside, when Jacob was born seven months ago, doctors told his parents that the extra digits meant he would have problems with his development, “They don’t want to remove his extra digits until he is 12 months old because they don’t want to put him under anaesthetic, but one toe is really loose and could affect his walking. I quite like the extra fingers and I don’t really want the surgeons to chop them off but kids are quite cruel and I could hardly send him to school with them,” said Rachael.
Sadly, extra fingers and toes are not Jacob’s only problem as he was also born with a hole in his heart and some serious issues with his eyesight.
And while doctors are clear that Jacob has a medical condition, they have not officially diagnosed him with anything specific .
Jacob’s mom spoke about how brave and courageous he is, having spent much of his life in and out of doctor’s offices and hospitals.
As Rachael explained, “He’s doing really well now and the focus is on how he develops like any other baby. Doctors are keeping a keen eye on him and we’re waiting on test results to see exactly what condition he has. He has so many defects that it can’t just be coincidence. He’s spent a lot of time at the doctor’s – and at first he used to cry a lot – but he’s got used to it now – you just get on with it, don’t you?”
[Image credit: congenitalhand.wustl.edu]
