14 DAY TRIAL // 17-year-old Cassidy Hooper from Charlotte, North Carolina was born without a nose and without eyes. The girl is now anxiously waiting for doctors to fix at least one of these problems.
On July 31, the teenager will undergo extensive surgery. During the procedure, specialists will try to attach a nose to her face.
Information shared with the public says that, some time before performing this final surgery, doctors had to subject Charlotte to a series of preparatory procedures.
Thus, they removed a fragment of her skull, and used it to create a structure whose anatomy resembles that of a real nose.
Additionally, they made the girl grow a flap of skin on her face. The skin will serve to cover Cassidy's new nose, Daily Mail reports.
Both these procedures were performed in this year's June. Doctors at the Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte explain that, although they proved fairly painful, they were mandatory.
As previously reported, specialists also had to spend some 5 years expanding the girl's face and creating a bony opening where the new nose could be attached.
The 17-year-old cannot wait to get a new nose. In a recent interview, Cassidy said that, first off, she wanted to look like everybody else.
What's more, she admitted that she had gotten sick and tired of surgeries and hospitals, and that she would love it if this ordeal came to an end.
“I was thinking of what the reaction of everyone would be when that last surgery finished. And I think everyone's going to be so excited,” she added.
Once she gets a nose, the 17-year-old wants to apply for a job at the Library for the Blind in Raleigh.
Despite being able to built the teenager a new nose, specialists are presently unable to do anything about her eyes. Her parents explain that, until recently, the girl used to wear prosthetics.
However, she outgrew them, and they didn't have enough money to get her a new set.