Kyrie Carter’s father dreams of his “little man” dribbling a basketball effortlessly someday.
“He’s going to play every sport!” Harold Carter proclaims with excitement of his young son’s future.
At 16 months old, Kyrie already has a good handle of a basketball, his family says — despite being born with five thumbs.
The extra thumbs haven’t been extra helpful, however, says Valley Children’s Hospital plastic surgeon Dr. Mimi Chao.
“Some families will ask, ‘Are two thumbs better than one? Can it put a wicked spin on a baseball?’ — those types of functional questions. But the answer is really no, because the two thumbs actually interfere with each others’ function,” Chao explains to Kyrie’s family before a hand reconstruction surgery for the infant at Valley Children’s on Feb. 16.
Chao took the best parts of two thumbs on Kyrie’s right hand and merged them into one. Previously, the Fresno boy had two extra thumbs on his left hand removed during an August surgery.
