14-year-old Filipina has 'twin' sister growing from her chest

The teenager was born with extra limbs and an oblong-shaped torso growing from her chest.

A 14-year-old girl in the Philippines will finally live a normal life after carrying her parasitic 'twin' sister with two extra arms and fingers for all this while.
Veronica Cominguez, who hails from Iligan city, is set to fly to neighbouring Thailand for an operation with the help of the locals who raised money for her.
Cominguez was born with extra limbs and an oblong-shaped torso growing from her chest belonging to a parasitic twin who did not develop properly. However, the extra parts continued to grow with Cominquez and she even cleans it and cuts finger nails for them.
"When I was little, I thought it was just a foot. But as I grew up, it became bigger. It's heavy, it limits my movement. It keeps swinging. My dress often gets wet," the teenager was quoted as saying in The Mirror.

Stating the family has a history of twins, the teenager's mother Flora Cominguez revealed that she was not able to properly see a doctor during her pregnancy but knew that she was carrying twins. The mother added that she had even thought of names for both of them but unfortunately the other baby did not fully develop.

Surprisingly, the mother revealed that her daughter would always get wet because of the liquid that comes out of it which sometimes has blood on it. "The liquid that comes out of the opening smells bad, like human excretion," said the mother.

However, according to the teenager's doctor, Dr. Beda Espineda, a pediatric surgeon at the Philippine Children's Medical Center said, "Most of these cases can be removed. Because, usually, the body structures involved are not vital. Most of them are just attached to the skin or bones. For surgeons, it is easy to remove."
While, a spokesman from the Barangay council of Kabacsanan said, "It has been arranged for Veronica to have an operation and we hope that she will live a normal, healthy life after this. Life has not been easy for her but she's a very sensible, clever and mature girl. She's a wonderful pupil. Everyone is very pleased for her that she can soon have an operation."

• Philippines