You could say it happened just like in Disney’s “Little Mermaid”, only in this real life case, the mermaid needed a little help from a surgeon.

The appropriately named Milagros Cerron, is a Peruvian girl,born with a rare condition, known as sirenomelia, or “mermaid syndrome“, which left her legs bound together, fro her heels, all the way to her groin.

The Little Mermaid, as she is known, in her native Peru, has just turned six years old, and she has made great progress. Dr. Luis Rubio, head of the surgical team that managed to separate Milagros’ legs, and rebuild her knees, hips and ankles, said she was doing very well, physically, but that she still has a long way to go.

The young girl, who’s name means “miracles”, in Spanish, has suffered three major operations, in the last five years, and she will need to have her urinary and sexual organs reconstructed, in two years.

Sirenomelia is a rare congenital defect that occurs in one out of 70,000 births, and causes death in the vast majority of cases. There is just one other case, 17 year old American, Tiffany York, who has undergone successful separation surgery, before.

Born in a poor family, from a poor village in the Andes, Milagros Cerron is fortunate enough to have her health bills supported by the Peruvian municipal government.

Photos by AGENCIES