8-limbed Indian boy shows off post-surgery 'miracle' body for 1st time

London, Sept 05 (ANI): A seven-year-old Indian boy, who was born with eight limbs, has shown off his 'miracle' body for the first time after doctors carried out a pioneering operation to transform him last year.

Deepak Kumar Paswaan, who hails from Bihar, was born with a parasitic twin conjoined to his abdomen, which meant he had four legs and four arms but one head.

Deepak suffered years of stigma with some people seeing him as a god while others believed he was an eight-limbed reincarnation of the devil, the Daily Mail reported.

However, surgeons in Bangalore removed the twin in a four-hour operation in June 2010.

"Now I can run faster than my two brothers - before I could never keep up. I really like my new body," a beaming Deepak told the Sun.

His mother said that the operation has changed his life like a 'miracle'.

"People used to throw things at him and neighbours whispered he was possessed by the Devil," she said.

"I thought God gave us him because we sinned a lot in past lives," she added.

The pioneering surgery would have cost around 50,000 pounds, but was performed free on Deepak.

"This is a very rare phenomenon - only a small proportion of babies with parasitic twins live," said lead surgeon Dr Ramcharan Thiagarajan.

A film about Deepak, 'Extraordinary People: The 8-Limbed Boy', will be aired on Channel 5 on Thursday at 9pm. (ANI)