Doctors at Ho Chi Minh City’s Children’s Hospital, Vietnam has successfully removed the turtle-shell-like mole from the back of a 10-year old girl after a 3-hour surgery on Monday, August 29. The hospital’s vice director, Dao Trung Hieu, said the girl, Tran Thi Ngoc Tham of Soc Trang province, who suffers from congenital melanocytic nevus has recovered after the surgery. More photos below..
He said the mole weighs 1.05 kg and measures 22 cm in diameter.
After its removal, doctors covered the area with skin grafted from the
girl’s thigh. Six doctors and five medical workers were involved in the
surgery.
Tham’s mother, Thach Thi Da Ni, 34, said she was born with the
birthmark measuring the size of “a mandarin orange”, and it has been
growing over the years.
Tham quit school after being repeatedly teased by others as the
“turtle-shell girl” but Ni has no money for her treatment, she said.
