MUM’S FEAR
I was terrified I’d be scared of my little girl after finding out she would be born a ‘mermaid’
A MUM has told how she feared she'd be scared of her little girl after doctors told her she'd be born with "mermaid syndrome".
Blaire Spivey, 5, from Lubock, Texas, was born with sirenomelia - a rare congenital deformity in which the legs are fused together, giving the appearance of a mermaid's tail.
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Her mum - dental assistant Noelle - was told by doctors that there was little chance of survival after her condition was revealed at her 12-week-scan.
Noelle said: "I was terrified I would be scared of my baby while I was pregnant."
Reliving the terrifying moment the doctor told her of Noelle's condition, the mum revealed: "The doctor came in an essentially said - 'your baby has a fatal condition'.
"I started crying - it had been hard enough to get pregnant.
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"They said 'it's not a matter of if she's going to die but a matter of when'."
Miraculously, Blaire defied the odds and survived an arduous seven-hour operation to separate her legs when she was 18 months old.
Her legs were then amputated from the knees down.
And now, after having new full-length prosthetic legs attached, Blaire has taken her first independent steps.
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Noelle, 35, said she now gushes with pride at her daughter's unique condition.
She said: "When I saw her little feet and little heart I wasn't terrified at all.
"I thought - 'she's just my baby'.
"She's perfect.
"I tell her she was born a mermaid. And I say to her - 'not everyone is used to cool legs like you'.
"They thought she wouldn't walk.
"She's beaten the odds."
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