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A badly deformed Samoan baby denied entry to New Zealand for surgery has been offered hope by an Adelaide church.
The South Pacific Islands Community Christian Church in Adelaide plans to fly the girl to Australia for treatment.
When Miracletina Nanai - known as Baby Miracle - was born in a Samoan village about four months ago, doctors told her parents not to feed her because she wouldn't live.
But after food was smuggled into the hospital, she survived against the odds and is now home in the care of her mother and father.
Baby Miracle's facial deformities are extensive - her tiny mouth and nose are badly misshapen and her eyes are set far apart.
Compassionate supporters raised $103,000 to get her to New Zealand, but late last month the authorities rejected her visa application, based on medical opinions that there was little hope she could survive.
The Adelaide church's pastor, Mireta Blackmore-Ma'ilo Saipele, said she believed God had the power to save Baby Miracle and she had approached medical staff at the Australian Craniofacial Unit to see if they could help.
She was told medical reports, x-rays and photographs were needed and she was trying to obtain them.
"I have had discussions with nurses there and I have taken in some of the information. I know they can't do an assessment solely from that," Ms Blackmore-Ma'ilo Saipele said.
"There is more to her than just her deformed face. There are other internal medical issues that may be a lot more complicated than we can imagine.
"We still have hope for her. We are still praying for her."
A New Zealand medical expert who reviewed Baby Miracle's case said at the time that the prognosis was "extremely poor" and the girl was expected to die.
"I do not think that any intervention could be offered by New Zealand that would change the long-term prognosis for Miracle," said Dr Rosemary Marks of the Starship hospital in Auckland.
Meanwhile, Samoa's Deputy Prime Minister, Misa Telefoni, has attacked New Zealand authorities for refusing to grant Baby Miracle a visa.
"The false perception the Nanai family and their supporters received, that if they raised $100,000 they get a medical permit for Aotearoa, is inexcusable," he said in a newspaper column.
- NZPA
