Indian girl with rare 'swollen head' condition dies suddenly

Indian girl with rare 'swollen head' condition dies suddenly

An Indian girl who made international headlines when a rare condition caused 

her head to swell to more than twice the normal size has died, days before he was 

to undergo corrective surgery.

Roona Begum's family said she died Sunday at her home in a village in India's 

remote northeast after complaining of breathlessness.

"She was otherwise fit and fine. But on Sunday she started having breathing 

problems and I rang up my husband asking him to come back home," said Fatima 

Begum.

"He rushed home and gave her water but before we could take her to the hospital 

she died," she told AFP.

The five-year-old was born with hydrocephalus, a potentially fatal condition that 

causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain.

Publication of pictures taken by an AFP photographer in the remote state of 

Tripura prompted a New Delhi hospital to treat her for free in 2013.

Her condition caused her head to swell to a circumference of 94 centimetres (37 

inches), putting pressure on her brain and making it impossible for her to sit 

upright.

After several round of surgery at the Fortis Hospital, her head circumference 

shrank to 58 centimetres.

Pictures showed the distraught parents sitting next to her body, wrapped in a 

cream towel as her younger brother looked on.