Boy born with no face has 'extreme' life-changing surgery

Yayha after surgery with Fatima Baraka. Photo / Facebook.

* Warning graphic images

After intense reconstruction surgery, a three-year-old Moroccan boy born without a nose, eyes or a functioning mouth has been given a new lease on life.

Yayha El Jabaly's stunted bone formation in the womb left him unable to speak, without eyes, with a hole in for his nose and an upside-down upper jaw. It's rare, and most children don't survive pregnancy.

Yayha before his operation. Photo / Facebook

Australia's Sunday Night programme followed the story after a Melbourne woman got in touch with the family of the little boy.

Melbourne resident Fatima Baraka was born close to Yayha's tiny village near Tangiers, the Independent reported.

Ms Baraka responded to a Facebook appeal from Yayha's family after their unsuccessful attempts to find a surgeon in Morocco. She tracked down an Australian doctor willing to perform the delicate surgery, Professor Tony Holmes at Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital.

"I believe that it's the right of everybody to look human and this kid doesn't look human," Dr Holmes told Channel 7.

Ms Baraka raised funds to support the surgery and went to Morocco, bringing the El Jabaly family to Australia. Dr Holmes admitted his concerns prior to the operation.

"Yayha may not die if we don't operate, but he might if we do," he told Channel 7.

"This is cranio-facial neurosurgery at its extreme."

Yayha now has a new nose created from his excess skin - cosmetic surgery will add cartilage. He has new upper jaw and is undergoing speech therapy. Dr Holmes said Yayha's parents were overwhelmed.

Four-year-old Yayha El Jabaly. Photo / Sunday Night

Yayha and his family will soon return to Morocco where, depending on his speech development, he will attend a school for blind children.

Click here to donate to Yahya's appeal.

- nzherald.co.nz