This is an incredible story about the wonders of medicine, and the hands of the brilliant surgeons through whom these wonders come about. I’m old enough to remember 1987, when the world marveled that Dr. Ben Carson performed the first successful craniopagus to separate West German twins conjoined at the skull. Because of Dr. Carson’s breakthrough and success, other rare and debilitating medical conditions in babies and newborns are now being addressed, particularly in countries that still have developing or extremely limited medical capabilities.
Gifted Hands is the subject of this week’s Feel-Good Friday. Hat tip to my colleague Becky Noble. We are at CPAC 2026 as part of the “Media Pit Mafia” (as fellow colleague Ward Clark has dubbed us). Becky is a proud St. Louisian, and pitched me this story from her city over Thursday night dinner.
Eighteen months ago, Turkish husband and wife, Emircan and Gulten Buga, gave birth to a beautiful baby girl they named Elisa. To her parents, she was perfect in every way. However, in the womb, Elisa developed “Ulnar Dimelia” or Mirror Hand Syndrome, a condition that roughly one in a million people are born with. Elisa did not develop a radius bone, which meant she would suffer significant limitations moving her wrist and elbow, and her shoulder movements would be stunted. This also resulted in Elisa being born with eight fingers on one hand, as the X-ray image below shows.
Dr. Charles Goldfarb, orthopedic surgeon at St. Louis Children’s Hospital said in an interview with First Alert 4’s Morgan Harris, “Mirror Hand is incredibly uncommon, and I even…even surgeons like myself who take care of a great deal of kids almost never see this in their career. So it’s really uncommon.”
No kidding. I get sympathy pains when I read about medical conditions like these; so, while reading Elisa’s story, I immediately grabbed my lower arm.
Mirror hand syndrome is an exceptionally rare congenital birth defect that affects the hand, and in some instances, it may also impact the forearm and elbow. The first case was seen in 1852. Since then, there have been fewer than 100 cases reported. pic.twitter.com/6bwIub6r1Q
— Morbid Knowledge (@MorbidKnowledge) February 5, 2026
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Donors to the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation contribute to an International Free Care Fund, so the Bugas were connected with the hospital’s orthopedic surgery team. The Bugas spoke no English, so through translators and translation software, the process for Elisa to receive reconstructive surgery to heal her condition had begun, First Alert 4 reported.
“From the very beginning, he was really warm, genuine, and gave us a lot of hope. Honestly, the trust and support he gave us played a huge role in our decision to come to St. Louis,” said Emircan Buga, Elisa’s father.
Emircan and his wife, Gulten, only speak Turkish and used a translator. They said the language difference never got in the way of their daughter receiving care.
Initially, I had conversations with them, from afar, but we talked on the phone and we did FaceTime, just communicating about her condition, [Dr.] Goldfarb said.
“They provided us with immense support regarding every problem we might encounter or face along the way. We would like to thank them for the support they provided, both financially and psychologically,” Emircan said.
Through assistance from the St. Louis Children’s Hospital Foundation, the International Office of Washington University, and the Ronald McDonald House, the Bugas were able to take the 5,800 mile journey from Turkey to the United States. On January 30, 2026, Elisa experienced the miracle of Dr. Goldfarb and his team’s surgical skills in St. Louis, as they completed the three-hour reconstructive surgery to build a radius bone, align and synchronize it with her ulnar bone, and remove the extra fingers.
Truly incredible.
What I admire about brilliant people like Dr. Goldfarb is they maintain their childlike enthusiasm for the significant work that they do. Dr. Goldfarb’s fresh wonder over being able to transform a young life is both inspiring and instructive. As he told the interviewer:
…[I]t’s so fun for me as a surgeon, who interacts with kids young and old, but at an early point in their life, to watch what happens after. And I do think a surgery like this is life-changing and will really help her succeed in all aspects.
WATCH:
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Editor’s Note: At RedState, it’s not all about politics and policy. We like to bring attention to what’s good in the world, with columns like “Feel-Good Friday,” “Start Your Weekend Right,” and “Hoge’s Heroes.”
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