Khadija Khatoon Khadija, 21, from Kolkata, West Bengal, Eastern India, was born without a face and her mouth is a small slit on the left side of her face. When she was born, concerned doctors were baffled by her condition for months.
Although it has never been confirmed, they believe she has a form of neurofibromatosis, a rare deformity that causes tumours to grow along nerves. Medics told Khadija and her family there was nothing they could do after extra skin continued to grow out of control.
“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. Because the doctors told us there was nothing they could do we never went back to them. And as Khadija got older she refused any help. Doctors told us when she was a baby that if she attempted surgery she could die, so we have lived with that fear.Now that Khadija is much older she has decided herself that she doesn’t want to have surgery. She doesn’t want to risk dying.”