Girl 'sees' broken bones

The Sun Newspaper Online ^ | 1/28/2004 | Lucy Hagan

[unspun]

Girl 'sees' broken bones

Astounding ... Natasha Demkina

By LUCY HAGANTHE SUN has brought the incredible X-ray eyes girl to Britain and seen her amazing powers at first hand.

Russian Natasha Demkina, 17, has stunned doctors in her home country with her ability to see medical conditions inside people.

We flew her 1,500 miles to London to demonstrate her extraordinary powers on Sun reporter Briony Warden, who suffered multiple injuries when she was knocked down by a car in October last year.

She is still recovering from the hit-and-run and uses crutches or a wheelchair to get around.

Before Natasha arrived at Briony’s North London home, our reporter removed a leg brace and hid all clues to her injuries.

Then the petite blonde teenager, who looks years younger than her age, began her examination.

Briony, 36, said: “I stood up and let her eyes scan over my fully-clothed body.

Broken leg ... with Sun reporter Briony Warden

“Her pupils dilated and she seemed to go into a trance for a couple of minutes.

“Straight away she began identifying a pain site at the base of my spine which she called a ‘blockage’.

“In fact I have four healing spinal fractures and some nerve damage.

“She described my pelvic area as being asymmetrical and pointed to the right side — where I suffered several fractures.

“Pointing to my jaw, she reported seeing a ‘hard, alien part’ – it was exactly the spot where a titanium plate holds my bones together.

“The most astonishing moment was when she saw the injuries to my left leg.

“Both the tibia and fibula bones — the two below the knee — are broken. I was amazed as she identified the two separate breaks and told me I had problems bending my knee joint.

“Then she said she saw ‘traces of several metal pins and screws’ which had left their mark on the bone.

“She could not possibly know, without seeing the scars, that until two weeks ago my leg was held together by half-a-dozen pins and screws.

“She even said the scars where the screws had been were covered over with new tissue — which is exactly what my last X-ray showed.”

Stunned Briony added: “Natasha is amazing. I was very sceptical at first but after just a few minutes she focused on my major fractures.

“I was very impressed. It was as though she was looking at X-rays of me. Only my orthopaedic consultant could have known more.”

Scan-tastic ... amazing Natasha was
able to pinpoint accident victim's injuries

After the examination we told Natasha about Briony’s accident.

She said: “I can see she is healing very well.”

Natasha first demonstrated her extraordinary ability at the age of ten, when she told her stunned mum Tatyana she could see “two beans”, “a tomato” and a “vacuum cleaner” inside her.

The child was referring to Tatyana’s kidneys, heart and intestines but did not know their names. Doctors at first refused to accept that her astonishingly-accurate descriptions were genuine. But exhaustive tests have failed to discover any trickery at work.

The teenager is famous in her home town of Saransk, the capital of Mordovia — a Russian republic 400 miles east of Moscow.

People queue down the stairs outside the family’s flat, waiting to be assessed by Natasha. She calls her power “medical vision” and believes it is a divine gift.

Speaking through a translator, she said: “The only way I can explain it is that my brain sees before my eyes. I seem to have two visions — one is normal, the other I call medical vision. I can see inside the human body but not through it. If someone held something behind their back I wouldn’t see it.”

Natasha summons her “medical vision” by focusing on her subject for around two minutes.

Recalling the first time it happened, she said: “At first I was disgusted, then I became used to it. It seems normal now and if I don’t see anyone for a while I miss the experience.”

Natasha’s family believe her powers were triggered when she suffered complications from a childhood operation. Doctors left a swab inside her which had to be removed later.

Mum Tatyana, 41, who came to London with Natasha and younger daughter Tanya, 11, said: “I was curious rather than frightened when she told me about her ability. I only took her to a doctor because I wanted them to explain what was happening to her. We wrote to one medical official who said Natasha should see a psychiatrist.

“But when we arrived, Natasha correctly diagnosed the psychiatrist as having a stomach ulcer — he was convinced and told her to keep using her gift.

She's got the look ... girl spots
injuries in matter of minutes

“At first it was friends and acquaintances who visited but word quickly spread and now we receive 100 phone calls a day.

“We have people waiting for months to see Natasha. At first she did it for free but now we charge 400 roubles (less than £10) for a diagnosis.”

Although Natasha spends her evenings meeting “patients” she insists she does not miss the carefree lifestyle enjoyed by her friends. And she finds they are perfectly accepting of her strange powers.

She said: “Other kids are nice — I am not bullied about it at all, although the teachers can be a problem — they keep wanting me to see them and their friends!”

Natasha cannot see inside herself and only examines family members when they think there might be something wrong with them.

As for the future, she hopes to study medicine at a top Moscow university after sitting the Russian equivalent of A-levels — the Unified State Exam — later this year.

She said: “I want to become a doctor who helps people. It is psychologically very hard telling people there is something wrong with them.

“I want to become a doctor so that I can help to cure them.”

Natasha will be demonstrating her amazing abilities when she appears on ITV1’s This Morning show today.

• Shafique Miah, 23, of Wapping, East London, was jailed for two months last week, banned from driving for a year and fined £800 after pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention, driving without insurance and leaving the scene of an accident.

[templar]

Do we see with our eyes?

Actually, we 'see' with a part of our brain. Our eyes provide the input stimulus to that part of the brain. Anyting else that stimulates it would produce a 'visual' result (as many children of the '60's have noticed). I'm a doubter, but, who knows, maybe her brain is wired a bit differently than others.

[Tuba-Dude]

Giggity giggity giggity giggity!

[unspun]

Not to pile on, but I'm a witness to these sorts of things. They happen every day, when Anointed Ones (a.k.a., "Christians") pray.

Amen, AG?

[Senator Pardek]

Could she do it in the dark?

[unspun]

with

Good word. Some also see with glasses, not to mention eyes and brain.

[Senator Pardek]

If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?

[shadowman99]

Yeah, just like Uri Geller can bend spoons with his mind. Never mind that he's touchin the spoon with both hands.

[RightWhale]

I have to reserve judgement on this one seeing it is from Russia, but there is the Edgar Cayce phenomenon which is just as strange.

[CougarGA7]

Let's say I take her claim at face value. OK. She can do one simple thing to convence me. If she can see through a body and see broken bones, then she should have no trouble at all seeing through her own eyelids. I want her to read aloud a book chosen at random with her eyes closed.

[unspun]

I want her to read aloud a book chosen at random with her eyes closed.

That would be an nice experiment, but one wouldn't know whether this apparent ability works that way.

[unspun]

just like?

[RightWhale]

read aloud a book

She is interacting with another human nervous system. She would see nothing in the book test.

[lawdude]

Even more surprising is that anyone cares.

[tet68]

I believe it WAS dark in the box, she was blindfolded and put her hands inside a cardboard box with holes in it.

She was an artist and worked with color everyday,
I can't explain it.

[martin_fierro]

She is the first known X-MEN.

"Hey, I got powers."

[Endeavor]

she's cheaper than a CAT scan

[cyborg]

Who knows the power of the human mind? I find this interesting.

[Jorge]

Is she a witch?

[Savage Beast]

"As for the future, she hopes to study medicine"

Maybe she'd like radiology.