16-year-old Aakansha Kumari from India can finally eat again after doctors removed a hairball the size of a melon from her stomach.
Kumari had been secretly eating her hair for years, but her parents didn't realize anything was wrong until she started vomiting every time she ate and started losing weight.
She was taken to Doon Medical College and Hospital in India where doctors discovered the gigantic hair baby occupying 80% of her stomach.
Aakansha was diagnosed with trichopagia, which is a condition that causes people to compulsively eat their own hair.
Doctor Dr. Abhay Kumar said:
“The surgery was challenging because we had to extract the hairball in one go. We couldn’t do it piece by piece and risk dropping strands of hair in the body cavity as it would lead to further complications. The girl is doing much better after surgery.”
The girl's father said there was a visible lump on her stomach before the surgery. He said:
“My daughter is looking much healthier and happier now.”