Girl born without a face defies the odds to celebrate her ninth birthday with her family in Brazil
A MIRACLE girl has survived to reach her ninth birthday after a rare condition meant she was born without a face. WARNING: Graphic
Ronaldo and Jociliene with their daughter Vitoria Marchioli from Barra de Sao Francisco in Brazil. She has Treacher Collins Syndrome that stopped 40 of her facial bones from developing to leave her eyes, mouth and nose displaced.
Vitoria has had over 40 surgeries to fix her skull.
“She was transferred to a specialist unit at another hospital in the capital to get more information on her health and the condition Treacher Collins Syndrome.
“She does not have a well-defined bone structure because 40 of the bones in her face did not form, which affected her eyes too.
“She does not have any life expectancy, we do not know how long she will survive, we didn’t expect her to make it until her ninth birthday but are so grateful she has.
“Doctors can’t explain how she has lived so long, but they believe it is down to our care and the love we have for her that has kept her alive.
“We’re hoping to continue fundraising to give our daughter a better quality of life and giving her the best appearance we can.
“We fight for her so that she can look better and have a better quality of life. We love her and are thankful for having her alive.”
Vitoria as a baby. Her doctors never thought she would survive. Picture: Caters News
Vitória was born with Treacher Collins Syndrome an undergrowth disorder that affects one in 50,000 people and left her with numerous facial deformities.
Among her problems were her nose not forming, an obscured mouth, damaged eyes with her left one protruding from its socket and the other covered by a mass of tissue.
Despite the family’s best efforts to fix the problems through eight surgeries over six years, they regularly receive nasty comments about their daughter’s appearance.
Rolando said: “We have been verbally abused and rejected by the public because of the appearance of our daughter
“Even our other daughters have told us that children at school verbally abuse them for the appearance of Vitória.”
Vitoria has gornw up with a rare condition that has meant she does not have a face.
Doctors who told the family to go home and wait for their daughter to die, now can’t believe Vitória is still alive and attribute her survival to their love and care.
At times the family, would wake-up every three-hours to feed her nutrients through a tube pushed down her throat into her stomach.
As well as regularly checking on her to ensure she’s not choking or putting herself in harm’s way.
Rolando said: “Vitória receives all the care, affection and possible love that we can give her, we try every day to help her as much as we can.
“In future, we hope humanity will have more love for people independent of their appearance, skin colour, race, religion and more.”
