3-year-old Girl With A Huge Tumor On Her Face Smiles Again

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

At 3 years old, little Melyssa Delgado Braga could not play, not even go outside like any other girl her age, because her face was disfigured by a huge tumor that almost suffocated her.

The parents of the little girl, who live in Sao Paulo, Brazil, tried by all means to operate on her in their country, but seeing that they could not do it there, they posted a video on social networks asking for help. The images reached Dr. Celso Palmeri Jr., a Brazilian doctor who works in the department of maxillofacial surgery at Louisiana State University, who immediately contacted its director, Dr. GE Ghali.

"It broke my heart," Dr. Ghali told People. "[The girl] couldn't even hold her head because the tumor was too big. I could barely swallow and, on top of everything, I was starting to have trouble breathing.”

The doctor also explained that although the tumor was benign, it already weighed 5 pounds, and the little one weighs about 25 pounds. "His tongue had been pushed to the back of his throat. It was only a matter of time before that thing suffocated her."

The doctor went beyond taking the risk of this delicate surgery. Knowing that the family barely raised the money for the airline tickets to the United States and could not afford the $ 400,000 it would cost, he spoke to James K. Elrod, President of Willis-Knighton Health System, to help them with some of Expenses. For their part, the doctors who made up the team that cared for the girl donated their services.

On December 20, after an 8-hour operation, the doctors were able to remove the tumor and reconstruct the jawbone of their young patient, who now, thanks to them, can finally smile.