4.26.2012

Turtle Boy Lives!!

The picture above is not shopped in any way, it's Turtle Boy!! Turtle Boy's real name is Didier Montalvo, age 6, and he recently had surgery to remove the "shell" on his back. The "shell" was actually a mole that had taken over the little boys entire back giving off the appearance of an outer shell. The boys family had the mole removed fearing that it could be malignant with the help of a local surgeon who heard the boys story. His family had been kicked out of their little village outside of Colombia and could not afford to pay any kind of doctor. Leading plastic surgeon Neil Bulstrode flew to Bogota to meet with a team of surgeons to discuss how to remove the over grown birth mark.
"Didier's was the worst case I had ever seen. Effectively three quarters of the circumference of his body was affected. Obviously he has had to go through a number of painful operations, but we feel it was worth it. It's great to see the photos of how Didier is getting on now. I'm really happy with how things have healed."
The cause of the disease, Congenital Melanocytic Nevus, is unknown but experts think there is a change in the development of skin cells in the embryo triggered by a gene mutation. I'm just surprised TLC hasn't given him his own reality show yet.
What's on Tijian has the story

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