Peru's 'Little Mermaid' baptised before surgery

LIMA, Peru - A Peruvian baby dubbed the "Little Mermaid" because she was born with a rare, usually fatal, condition in which her legs are fused was baptised on Tuesday.

Wearing a white dress, white hairband and white trousers covering her legs and splayed feet, 10-month-old Milagros Cerron cried as Bishop Carlos Garcia wet her head in a Lima parish church.

"The press has baptized her the 'Little Mermaid' ... Let's christen the little mermaid," Garcia said. Milagros means "miracles" in Spanish and her father, Ricardo Cerron, 24, said they chose it because the baby is "God's blessing. "

Doctors plan to start separating her legs in about 40 days in tricky surgery that has only been attempted a handful of times.

Milagros' legs are trapped in a skin "sack" down to her heels, with her feet in a "V." Two weeks ago, doctors inserted silicone bags and are pumping in saline solution to stretch the skin to cover the wounds once her legs are cut apart.

"I wanted her to be baptized before the (separation) operation because anything could happen," said her grandfather, Cirilo Cerron, who saw Milagros for the first time on Monday. Lima Mayor Luis Castaneda and nurse Gladys Zuniga were godparents.

- REUTERS