The parents of 21-year-old from Kolkata were told at the time of her birth that she will have to spend her entire life without a face. Khadija Khatoon suffers from neurofibromatosis--a rare genetic disorder featured by swellings or lumps on the body.
The condition is so worst that the lumps have severely distorted her facial features; she cannot feel her eyes and nose and her mouth is just a small slit on the left side of her face.
"She was born with thick heavy eyelids and she looked different to my other children at birth, but we didn’t think anything of it until we realised she couldn’t open her eyes properly. When we took her to the hospital, she was admitted for six months and they did lots of tests but doctors eventually told us there was nothing they could do," Khatoon's mother told Express.co.uk.
Khadija's condition is so worst that the lumps have severely distorted her facial features
According to Dr Anirban Deep Banerjee, neurosurgeon, Apollo Hospital, Kolkata, Khatoon could possibly have a huge tumor inside her face.
However, her appalling condition hasn't deterred Khatoon from living a normal life. "This is who I am and this is the life I live. I fill my days sitting and thinking, talking to my mother about life and going for walks near my home," Khatoon told Metro.co.uk. "I’m made this way and I accept it graciously. If this is how I’m meant to be then I live with it," she added
Coming from a poor family, Khatoon does not have means for a treatment. However, an NGO is raising funds to get her condition treated. "My family is my only friend and I love them dearly. My parents are my world. If only the Government would see my position and help me, I would like that," Khatoon told the media.
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