Rudy Santos is the subject of a documentary titled Octopus Man. Santos was born in 1953 in the Philippines with a parasitic twin attached to his pelvis– the twin protrudes from his abdomen. In his sixties, medical experts deemed Santos viable for removal surgery but he refused the surgery because “he had grown too attached to his appendages.”
[‘Octopus Man’: Rudy Santos’ Wife Says It Was Love At First Sight]
Lakshmi Tatma was also born with a parasitic twin. The Indian girl was born in 2005 with “four arms and four legs” which provoked the moniker Octopus girl. Her parents were not able to afford the surgery but Dr. Sharan Patil took an interest in Lakshmi. Dr. Patil performed the separation surgery in Bangalore, Karnataka in 2007. The initial surgery lasted 27 hours. A team of 30 surgeons took shifts. And the cost of the surgery (estimated at $625k) was covered by the hospital’s charitable wing, the Sparsh Foundation. Lakshmi recovered well. She can now walk to school. More surgeries are planned. The Octopus Man documentary will air on TLC on Monday, September 21 at 8pm.
[Mermaid Syndrome: Shiloh Pepin’s Death Leaves Two Survivors]
