The four-year-old boy with 25 fingers and toes including double thumbs - but his parents don't want him to have surgery

Children often learn to count to ten using their fingers or toes, but that wouldn't help one four-year-old boy in India who has 25 digits. Arpan Saxena from Bhopal, India, suffers from two rare genetic disorders called Polydactyl, a disorder that gives rise to excess digits being formed, and Syndactyly, which leads to fingers and toes being fused together. Arpan, who has 13 fingers and 12 toes, enjoys celebrity status in Bhopal, with his picture plastered on city walls. 'I love it when people come to see me and take photos,' he said.  'But the only thing I don't like is that I can't walk a lot because my feet never fit in any shoes.'

 

Unlucky for some: Arpan Saxena shows his 13 fingers at his home in Bhopal, India. He said he liked being a local celebrity

His father, Anil Saxena, 35, a rickshaw puller, confirmed the toddler was originally born with 26 digits. 'When he was born, we were surprised to see that he had 26 fingers and toes,' he said. 'I had never ever heard of anyone being born with so many fingers.' Following an accident, Arpan lost a finger when he was just two years old.  'He was out playing when he injured one of his fingers and it just sort of came off,' Anil said. 

 

Arpan says he wishes he could wear normal shoes

Arpan's mother, Tanu, 30, said they wouldn't be getting Arpan an operation, even though a lot of people have offered help. 'Its every parents dream to be known for their children,' she said. 'Arpan is famous all over Bhopal and we like it that way, and I am apprehensive about how an operation might affect him at this age.' His father survived the Bhopal disaster - a huge industrial accident at a pesticide plant in 1984.

 

Arpan Saxena with his mother Taruna and doing some school work (right). They live in Bhopal which is known as the City of Lake

Arpan with his father Anil who survived an industrial disaster in 1984

Campaigners say at least 15,000 were killed within days and that the effects of the gas continue to this day. They also say Bhopal has an unusually high incidence of children with birth defects, as well as cancers and other chronic illnesses. Arpan does not hold a world record for most number of fingers and toes.  The current world record is held by fellow Indian, Akshat Saxena, a two-year-old boy who was born with 34 fingers and toes.

Daily Mail UK

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