A 3-Year-Old Boy, Who Was Born Without Eyes, Nose or Upper Jaw, Just Underwent a Miraculous Surgery

Meet Yahya Jabaly.
This 3-year-old boy from Morocco was born without eyes, a nose or an upper jaw because his skull bones failed to fuse in the womb and doctors didn't expect him to survive long after birth. Luckily, the doctors were wrong, and now, Jabaly has completed a life-changing surgery.
A photo of the little boy was posted on Facebook to try and find someone who was willing to help reconstruct his face, after Jabaly's parents desperately (and unsuccessfully) searched for a surgeon who would operate on their son—and it worked.
The picture made it's way to Australia, where it was seen by Fatima Bakara, a Morocco-born Melbourne resident who knew she had to do something for the boy. After months of searching, she connected Yahya with Professor Tony Holmes, the same Melbourne surgeon who helped separate conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna, who performed a very risky reconstructive surgery.


Holmes met Yahya for the first time in 2014 and spent months planning and preparing for the surgery to give him a face using models of his skull, according to local reports.
"I believe that it's the right of everybody to look human and this kid doesn't look human," Dr Holmes said, who added that Jabaly's condition is "sporadic, it's not genetic and most kids would not survive pregnancy. But some do."
The procedure was high-risk and took surgeons nearly 20 hours to perform. "Yahya may not die if we don't operate but he might if we do," Holmes said prior to surgery. "I think this one is about as difficult as it gets. A 9.5-out-of-10 degree of difficulty."
"My biggest concern [was] whether or not he is suitable for surgery, we really do not know how he is functioning and how the brain is functioning."
However, the end result was successful in more ways than one. "You could just tell that they were just stunned, and just so happy," Holmes said.
"The risks of the operation were great, but I think they were worth it now that he can have a decent life."

Next, he will need to have further surgery on his nose and get prosthetic eyes, but for now he is learning to walk, according to BuzzFeed.

"It's a huge joy, a huge happiness," his father said.