Four-year-old girl with a rare facial hernia gets life-changing surgery

A four year old girl, Angel has had her face transformed after undergoing life-changing surgery. Angel, from the Philippines, was born with encephalocele - a rare brain hernia and neural tube defect. Her mother Cypres Salon  told The Age:
'When I saw her for the first time, I cried a lot,' 'I cried every moment I looked at her and I blamed myself for her condition.'
Angel had surgery at just four months after her parents raised $5,500 for surgery in the Philippines, but despite it helping to stop her 'brain spilling into the hernia,' it was still covering most of her left eye. The hernia made it hard for Angel to live a regular life and prevented her from being able to sleep, breathe and play like other kids her age - Angel often having to lift the lump up or move it so she could see. Angel was also labelled a 'monster' by her peers but when a four-year-old boy approached her and said it to her face, she simply 'patted him on the shoulder and said "Hi".

I was so amazed by her response,' Ms Salon told The Age, adding that Angel knew children were scared of her. 'I was so proud of her.'
After struggling to raise another $8,000 for Angel's hernia to be removed completely, Ms Salon and her husband Dale were referred to the Children First Foundation - a non-profit that aims to 'transform the lives of children by giving hope, exceptional care and pathways to a brighter future.'
The Children First Foundation flew Angel and her father to Australia for surgery and the craniofacial unit at the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital performed the procedure in September. The four hour surgery, performed by surgeon Walter Flapper, involved cutting the 200 gram lesion off Angel's face before using bone taken from her hip to seal the hole in her forehead. The surgery was a success and Angel was later able to see clearly for the first time.