Girl Born Without A Face, Given Death Sentence By Her Doctors, Defies Odds to Celebrate 9th Birthday

Born without a face and suffering a condition that only affects one in 50,000 people, Vitória Marchioli has defied the death sentence given to her by her own doctors by celebrating her ninth birthday. Parents Rolando and Jocilene Marchioli are continuing to work on fundraising in the hopes of providing their daughter with a better quality of life.

"She looked a little strange when she was born she had a big opening on her face and a very open eye, she was different from our other children. Doctors told us she would not survive and that she only had one or two hours to live, they didn't give her any chance of survival," said Rolando, 39, as reported by The Sun.

"Doctors can't explain how she has lived so long, but they believe it is down to our care and the love we have for her that has kept her alive."

Vitória was born with Treacher Collins syndrome, which stopped 40 bones on her face from forming. The nine-year-old has no well-defined bone structure, an obscure mouth, a malformed nose, and her left eye protruding out of its socket.

According to further reports, the Marchioli family has also faced a lot of abuse over the years of caring for Vitória. Her sisters suffer from verbal abuse at school, and they are often harassed in public for the way Vitória looks.

However, the family has joined arms in taking care of her, ensuring that she is well and alive, day in and day out. Vitória has received multiple surgeries to help give her the best quality of life possible.

The Marchioli family resides in Barra de São Francisco in Brazil, where according to them they continue to move forward in hopes of seeing the world accept different people regardless of their physical and cultural characteristics.