A six-year-old girl from Russia who was born with half a face is finally able to smile after undergoing an 11-hour operation.
Darina Shpengler was born with a rare condition which left her with no lips or chin, limiting her ability to eat and speak.
While it was initially thought Darina suffered from debilitating Nager syndrome, genetic tests showed her condition is unique and caused by ‘spontaneous mutations’, The Siberian Times report.
See the moment she met her father after her operation here:
The six-year-old’s mother, Elena, gave up her job to look after Darina and she and her husband, Yuri, fought a tough campaign for their daughter’s chance to receive appropriate medical help. After the youngster’s story was publicised a fundraiser was set up and the family received an overwhelming amount of support from generous donors.
Russian experts looked into opportunities for Darina’s surgery in her own country, however as her weight is similar to that of a one-year-old, at 11.3 kilograms, they concluded she had to be operated on abroad and recommended the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.
Darina and her mother set off to the UK in June, when she had her first consultation with one of the world’s most renowned craniofacial surgeons, professor David Dunaway.
In August, she underwent the 11-hour surgery during which doctors created a jaw for the young girl. Russian charity Rusfond helped fund the operation, the first in a series of treatments Darina is expected to have.
Speaking after the completion of the operation, Dr. Dunaway said:
We have just finished Darina’s operation.
It’s been a very long day, I think we have been operating for almost 11 hours… I think we are very happy with the way things have gone.
We made Darina a nice little jaw, it’s in a good position, and we introduced some more skin into her neck.
After spending the last few weeks recovering, the six-year-old returned to her hometown of Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region where fundraising has already begun for her next operation, which will see doctors construct her upper jaw and lip.
In Russia, children are said to have been ‘scared’ of Darina and some of her family members even disowned her because of her condition. During her three months in the UK, however, Elena said her daughter ‘learned to laugh’.
She commented:
Darina spent three months with normal people.
She has received an enormous amount of love from them, from all these people surrounded us these months and who took care of us.
They didn’t speak a word in Russian but came just to give a hug and their support. This had changed our daughter completely – and she learned to laugh.
When Yuri saw his daughter for the first time after her operation, he told her she was ‘so beautiful’.
Darina’s next surgery is set to take place in a few months and her mother added ‘I want people to stop pointing fingers at her so she doesn’t feel unhappy.’
Hopefully the young girl’s future operations will all go to plan.
If you’d like to donate to Darina’s campaign you can do so here.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to story@unilad.com
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.