Photos: Meet The 6 Year Old Born With Her Heart Outside Her Chest

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Out of body experience: Virsaviya Borun, 6, a native of Russia, suffers from a condition called Pentalogy of Cantrell, which caused her heart and intestines to form outside her body 

Six-year-old Virsaviya Borun has been beating the odds her entire life, having been born with her heart and intestines outside her chest and abdomen. Virsaviya, a native of Russia who recently moved to South Florida with her mother, suffers from multiple birth defects caused by Pentalogy of Cantrell – a rare congenital condition that occurs in estimated 5.5 in one million live births.

Virsaviya’s heart, which is about the size of a fist, could be seen beating against her abdominal area, protected only by a thin layer of skin.One in a million: Pentalogy of Cantrell is a rare congenital condition that occurs in estimated 5.5 in 1million live births

Plea: Ms Borun has appealed to the public for help, asking for donations to help her cover her daughter’s medical bills and basic living expense

With her mum

Her intestines are also outside her body and she has no abdominal muscles or a diaphragm. ‘When I was pregnant, the doctor said she will not survive, that she is going to die,’ the girl’s mother, Dari Borun, told NBC Miami. Six years later, Virsaviya, who also goes by the biblical name Bathsheba, is a bright and lively girl who enjoys drawing ponies, attends art classes and loves dancing to Beyonce’s songs.

In early 2015, Ms Borun, who has been raising Virsaviya on her own, found a doctor at Boston’s Children’s Hospital willing to treat her rare ailment. Pentalogy of Cantrell often requires surgery, depending on the severity of the patient’s defects, and could be fatal if left untreated.

Virsaviya’s heart is about the size of a fistThe heart could be seen beating against her abdominal area, protected only by a thin layer of skin