A three year-old boy was born with facial deformities as the result of a prenatal complication. He was born with a hole in his face, which was where his nose was supposed to be. He was also born without an upper jaw and eyes. The little boy, whose name is Yahya, was shielded from other people by his parents.
Yahya’s deformities not only made him a social outcast, but it also made it impossible for him to speak. The only way that he could communicate was by grunting. However, things changed for the better after Yahya’s family made a Facebook post begging doctors to help.
Fatima Baraka was one of the people who read the post. She lives in Melbourne and decided to get in touch with a surgeon who could help Yahya. She found Tony Holmes, who was a reconstructive surgeon. The surgeon determined that Yahya was a good candidate for the surgery. Dr. Holmes and his team then began working to remodel Yahya’s face.
The procedure was a very difficult one. Yahya lost about half of his blood during the procedure, and the doctors had to dissect the brain from the skull. The procedure lasted 18 hours. However, it was a success, and Yahya has already shown improvement. He is now learning how to speak.
Yahya will have to get additional procedures. He will be getting prosthetic eyes and more work done on his nose.
