Doctors work to save 'Baby Klaus,' born with massive head due to excess fluid build-up

'Baby Klaus' has been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess fluid builds up in the brain and can damage sensitive tissue.

Neurosurgeons at a hospital in San Antonio are fighting to save the life of an 11-month old baby born with a rare condition that caused his head to swell to more than twice the normal size.

"Baby Klaus," as his parents and local media are calling him, was born with hydrocephalus, a build-up of excess fluid in the brain that has caused his head to swell to more than 130% larger than a typical newborn's head.

After several doctors near their home in west Texas refused to operate or told them that their baby would die soon, the stricken baby's parents, who identified themselves as Klaus Sr. and Beatrice, found a hopeful savior in Dr. David Jimenez, the chairmen of the department of neurosurgery at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

Jimenez and his staff inserted a tube in the baby's head to drain the fluid and relieve the pressure, and the child's head is already about a foot smaller than it was when his parents brought him in about two weeks ago.

Still, doctors and hydrocephalus experts said Baby Klaus's had a particular severe case and that progress would be slow.

"It's like nothing that I've seen before," Jimenez said.

Known to doctors as "water on the brain," hydrocephalus occurs in about 1 out of 500 babies born and can cause brain damage, according to the Mayo Clinic's website. If left untreated, the condition can be fatal.

Baby Klaus's parents told local media in a news conference that they are praying for their son every day and hopeful that the fact that he has managed to live almost a year is a sign that he will survive. It is likely, though, that he faces extensive reconstructive surgery in the future, Jimenez said.

"What I can tell about my son is he's a great fighter," Klaus, Sr. said. "He's a warrior."

Lucky trucker's cliffhanger escape

A truck driver survived a real life cliffhanger when his overloaded rig balanced above a 400ft drop after its brakes failed.

Police say the truck - loaded with 40 tons of coal - was going too fast to make a turn onto the exit ramp leading from a mine in Qingzhen, south west China.

And after crashing through a safety barrier, the out of control truck was only saved when it ploughed through a pile of sand being used by builders.

"It was enough to slow it down. The driver had been convinced he was going to die and took a lot of persuading to climb out of his cab and back up the truck," said a police spokesman.

Pregnant Israeli woman set on fire in hospital accident

A pregnant Israeli woman who was about to have a baby by Caesarean was accidentally set on fire by a surgeon. Details of the incident - which occurred in an operating room at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, near Tel Aviv, in 2008 - emerged during an investigation by the Israeli health ministry.

The woman was initially swabbed with an alcohol solution ahead of the procedure, but when she entered the operating theatre, the surgeon asked that a nurse repeat the procedure. The surgeon then began to cut her open with a diathermic needle, but the implement, which uses an electrical current, emitted a spark which set the alcohol solution alight, engulfing the woman in flames.

After putting out the fire and bandaging the woman, the staff continued the operation. The woman suffered massive burns, however she delivered a healthy baby boy. Since then, the woman has had skin grafts to her buttocks and thighs, as well as plastic surgery.

A health ministry investigation found that both the surgeon and the nurse shared responsibility for the operating error. The medical centre said that it had learned the lessons of the incident, and that it had offered the woman "optimal care until she recovered."

Australian man dies after snake bite at computer

A 43-year-old Gingin man has died from a tiger snake bite after he was bitten on the toe as he sat at his computer. Michael Thorpe was sitting at his home computer when he was bitten by a tiger snake, believed to be just 30cm/12 inches long.

It is believed that Mr Thorpe's six-year-old daughter was in the house at the time and instead of seeking immediate medical help, he put his daughter's safety ahead of his. Mr Thorpe died shortly after arriving at Joondalup Health Campus.

Gingin Police Sergeant Scott Gillis warned that as the weather has warmed up snakes have become more active and can seek out shelter inside dwellings. Sergeant Gillis also warned of delaying treatment if bitten.

"That allowed the venom to spread more that he didn't seek medical attention straight away," Sgt Gillis said. There have been 77 people treated for snake bite already this spring in WA.

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JOKE: Condoms and Dramamine

A man wanted to take his girl friend on a last-minute two-week cruise, but his travel agent could only get him reservations for a three-day cruise. He badly needed some points, so he booked it anyway and headed to the drugstore to buy Dramamine and condoms. The next day, his travel agent called him and reported that he had found them a one-week cruise. "Great, I'll take it!" he said and returned to the same pharmacy to buy more Dramamine and more condoms. The third day, his travel agent called him yet again, saying that someone had just cancelled their two-week cruise and he could get it for them. The man was elated and, of course, he headed back to the drugstore for even more Dramamine and condoms. The pharmacist looked at him sympathetically. "Look, buddy, I'm not trying to pry, but if it makes you nauseous, why do you keep doing it?"

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Peach the tiniest police dog

Meet Japan's newest police dog -- all 6 lb of her.

In what is a first for Japan and perhaps the world, a long-haired Chihuahua named "Momo" -- "Peach" -- passed exams to become a police dog in the western Japanese prefecture of Nara.

The brown-and-white, perky Momo was one of 32 successful candidates out of 70 dogs, passing a search and rescue test by finding a person in five minutes after merely sniffing their cap.

"Any breed of dog can be entered to become a police dog in the search and rescue division," said a Nara police spokesman.

But he admitted that news a Chihuahua had been entered may still come as a surprise to many.

"It's quite unusual," he said.

Television footage showed the 7-year-old Momo bounding across grass or sitting proudly, long hair blowing in the breeze.

Momo will be used for rescue operations in case of disasters such as earthquakes, in the hope that she may be able to squeeze her tiny frame into places too narrow for more usual rescue dogs, which tend to be German Shepherds.

The public response to the news of Momo's selection took police by surprise, the spokesman said, adding: "The phone's been ringing all afternoon."

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Man charged with killing woman for taking phone call during sex

A Milwaukee man was charged Tuesday with strangling a woman over the Thanksgiving weekend because she took a phone call while they were having sex.

Garron Lewis, 46, faces a single count of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Sharron D. Dorsey. 44.

According to a criminal complaint:

Dorsey was found dead Saturday afternoon in a home in the 1500 block of S. Union St. by her daughter. Dorsey's body was on a bed in the basement, clad in her underwear. Medical examiners determined she had been strangled and was dead for some time.

Later Saturday, a man told police Lewis had come to his house crying and confessed to killing Dorsey with a belt for talking to someone else while the two were in bed. Lewis then also admitted to police he had killed Dorsey after first threatening her life, the complaint says.