Miracle recovery of Haiti earthquake baby thanks to London doctors
It has taken eight operations, several other major procedures, the work of five medical charities and the care of more than 50 doctors and nurses at two London hospitals, but Haitian orphan baby Landina Seignon is now on the road to recovery.
In one of the most remarkable stories to emerge from the horrors of the earthquake, the four-month-old baby, rescued on the brink of death from the rubble of a collapsed Port-au-Prince hospital, is now rehabilitating at the Chesham home of a volunteer host mother' with every chance of having a normal future.
Her complex series of treatments has been organised and co-ordinated by the charity Facing the World, which specialises in helping people with cranio-facial injuries.
Sarah Driver-Jowitt, of the charity, who is acting as Landina's guardian, told the Standard today: "She is the most charismatic baby who is so full of life. She is so worth it."
These pictures show the latest operation, her eighth, carried out yesterday at Chelsea and Westminster by Greg Williams, the lead burns surgeon and Simon Eccles, consultant plastic surgeon.
The operation was designed to manage the scarring process from burns she sustained on her right leg, which was contracting as it heals. She has already had her right arm amputated and needs as much mobility as possible to help her eventually learn to crawl and walk.
At the same time as his colleagues were dealing with the burns, Richard Young, another plastic surgeon was checking on the healing on her scalp, where a septic bone was removed in an earlier operation at Great Ormond Street.
Mr Young said: "She has done fantastically well. When she was discovered, she was at risk of dying from her head wound alone. She also had a lifeless arm. Now her prognosis is excellent."
Her incredible rescue story began when David Nott, a vascular and general surgeon at Chelsea and Westminster found her after she had been pulled from the wrecked hospital. The fact she survived at all was extraordinary — 20 nurses and the hospital's orthopaedic surgeon died when the building collapsed.
As well as the terrible burns to her head and leg — the cause of which is unknown but are believed to be why she was in the hospital in the first place — she suffered a serious skull wound and her right arm was crushed as a result of the earthquake.
Mr Nott operated to amputate her arm while another Chelsea surgeon, Shehan Hettiaratchy, conducted a second operation to seal the wound with a flap of skin. Four further operations were need to remove dead tissue from her skull wound.
Mr Nott persuaded the Haitian authorities to allow her to be flown to Britain. After arriving on 12 February she was taken straight to Great Ormond Street for the operation to remove a septic piece of bone from her skull, which had lost its protective skin.
Once she was able to leave intensive care, she was switched to Chelsea and Westminster where a vacuum dressing was placed on her skull to promote skin growth.
Although her parents are believed to have perished in the earthquake, Facing the World is now embarking on another mission to track down any surviving family members.
