Photo: Baby boy ‘born with 3 functional eyes’ in Kano

Medical experts at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital, Kano are struggling to unravel the mystery behind the case of a baby boy born with three eyes, which are all functioning. But many are wondering whether the infant is a ‘special child’ or is deformed, Weekly Trust reports.

A peasant couple from Rano local government area of Kano State was recently delivered of a baby boy with an extra eye, raising serious questions as to how the third eye, which appears like a protrusion on the upper side of his left ear, came about. Doctors at the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano, say the third eye is as functional as the normal pair in terms of sight and sensitivity.

Weekly Trust reports that one can see the eye lashes, the eyeballs and all other things available in the normal eyes. Idris Ashiru, born two weeks ago, is undergoing a series of medical investigations to determine the next line of action to be taken by the hospital on the abnormal body part. Oblivious of what is going on around him, the infant lies peacefully on his hospital bed waiting for the outcome of the investigation to determine if the third eye will be removed or not.

Narrating how she gave birth to Idris, the 24-year-old mother, Sajida Ashiru, said she had a normal ante natal and delivery process: “I did not experience any abnormality during his pregnancy and even when I gave birth, it was normal like all other births that I had.” Being her fourth birth, Sajida said when she gave birth to Idris, he was hale and hearty and till date he has shown no sign of ailment or pain: “He is very healthy; he sleeps well and is not showing any sign of pain and even the additional eye itself shows no sign of pain or inconvenience.” As soon as she noticed the abnormal thing on her child’s face after birth, Sajida took him to the Rano General Hospital from where they were referred to the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital Kano for further investigations.

The troubled mother said it was the wish of God and that she is praying for the successfully removal of the third eye so that her child can live a normal life like his three siblings, stressing that all her other children were born normal without any deformity. Explaining the mystery behind the third eye, the head of ophthalmology department at the specialist hospital, Dr. Hadi Bala Yahaya, said when the child was brought to them two weeks ago, they examined him to ascertain the position of the third eye. “When we examined him, we certified that this patient has three different eyes apart from the normal anatomical position of two eyes which we used to see,” Yahaya explained. He added that after certifying that the additional eye was indeed an eye, they decided to put him under a series of investigations to ascertain whether it was a functional eye.

“At the end of the investigations we are able to ascertain that it is an additional eye, and not just that, but also a functional eye because if one puts on a torch-light on the eye it is reflecting and it has all the structures of an eye,” he said. The child was further referred for additional examination to enable them know what steps to take in addressing the problem, Yahaya explained further. He said at the end of the analysis, the medical team would be able to know the possibility of removing the third eye, which the ophthalmologist said would be done on the condition that it would not affect the two normal eyes. He added that if at the end of the investigations it is certified that the additional eye could be operated, the surgery would involve specialists from different departments: “The operation will include in addition to the ophthalmologist, a neurologist, a paediatric surgeon and an orthopaedic surgeon. These entire specialists have a stake in the operation.” The ophthalmologist stated that this was the first case at the hospital of a child being born with three eyes, saying such stories normally filter in from faraway places like China and far East Asia.

Explaining the possible reasons for such an abnormality, Yahaya said: “Indiscriminate taking of drugs during the first three months of pregnancy could sometimes cause such abnormality. We call this congenital malformation. There are some drugs that can affect the formation of the child at that stage and at the end; the child can be born with either one leg or one eye.” Another possible cause according to him could be deficiency on the part of the mother, saying if due to poverty the mother suffers from deficiency of some vitamins or had suffered certain illnesses during pregnancy, it could as well affect the formation of the child. He therefore advised pregnant women to attend ante natal clinic because during ante natal, certain abnormalities could be detected on time and be corrected.