Story By:  Gheorghi Caraseni, Sub Editor:  Joseph Golder,  Agency: Central European News

The mum of a 6-month-old baby who underwent a dramatic birthmark removal op has been targeted by trolls just months after a priest refused to baptise her over the pre-cancerous condition.

Maria Khvostantseva, 22, from the city of Kurgan in west-central Russia’s Kurgan Oblast is the mum of six-month-old Victoria, whose body is 80 percent covered with a huge birthmark.

Desperate Mum Maria was struggling to find a way for her daughter to get rid of the birthmark – melanocytic nevus – amid fears that it could develop into a malignant tumour.

Over time the tot’s parents started gathering funds for an operation, a clinic in St Petersburg contacted them and offered to carry out the operation for free.

The adorable little girl recently underwent the surgery which partially removed the birthmark

The overjoyed Mum took to social media to tell netizens about the life-changing luck she had experienced.

However, she was shocked by the barrage of negative comments she received from online trolls who accused her of pulling a paid PR stunt with some even doubting the operation could be performed in Russia.

Maria told local media: “We are now getting lots of negative comments especially from people that treat abroad, they say that I’m making PR for the clinic and used pictures from another child.

“When your kid has a precancerous condition, you use any option that pops up. We were offered free surgery and of course, we accepted it.”

According to Maria Khvostantseva, doctors planned eight stages of treatment altogether – eight consecutive operations, during which the baby’s nevus will become less and less. According to preliminary forecasts, it will take about two to three years.

Maria also said that her daughter now feels good and all of her wounds have healed and her cast has been removed.

Last year, Victoria was one-month-old, Maria reported that one of the local priests refused to baptise the tot because of the birthmark.

The unknown priest reportedly refused to baptise the tot because he did not know if the birthmark was contagious.

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