A baby born with 12 fingers and 12 toes has left doctors baffled – but his Mum says, ‘I quite like the extra fingers’.
There were no signs that there was anything wrong with seven-month-old Jacob Duffy before he was born in November last year.
But mum Rachael Hendry, 24, and dad John Duffy, 28, found that baby Jacob had four extra digits – and an undiagnosed complex syndrome which has left him with a number of defects, including a hole in the heart and eye conditions.
Rachael said: ‘We joked around a bit at first and said that at least he will be good on the piano but obviously we quickly realised that things were a bit more serious.
‘I quite like the extra fingers and I don’t really want the surgeons to chop them off but kids are quite cruel and I could hardly send him to school with them.’
Doctors aim to operate after he is 12 months old – and his parents are now trying to raise cash for a sensory room to aid his development.
The pair have already raised £1,000 in just six weeks of campaigning with proceeds also going towards the Hawthorn Family Support Centre in Leeds where Jacob visits every week.
Rachael said: ‘He’s doing really well now and the focus is on how he develops like any other baby.
‘Doctors are keeping a keen eye on him and we’re waiting on test results to see exactly what condition he has.
‘He has so many defects that it can’t just be coincidence.
