One of the most exciting times in life is finding out you’re going to have a child and you just hope the child will be born healthy.
From Corby, England, Tony and Theresa Hall are two devoted parents. At least based on what the prenatal testing appeared to show, they believed that everything was going well with their unborn child. However, the parents were able to tell that their daughter wasn’t in the best of health at birth. She actually had a congenital defect from the beginning.
Under her left eye, baby Cody was born with a hemangioma. Because of this situation, benign tumors can develop from stem cells. A huge mark on Cody’s face is all that remains of her illness.
But her parents wanted to improve her life because they loved her from the minute they first saw her. They took her out for long walks, and they allowed her to openly explore the world. Onlookers, however, were less than nice to the Halls.
“In England, our neighbor asked my wife if we put a bag over [Cody’s] head when we took her out, The hardest thing is the stares and comments from the ignorant people in this world who don’t understand what’s going on with her,” Tony recalled for the Orlando Sentinel.
So Tony and Theresa planned a trip, and they saved up enough money for their daughter Cody. They brought her to Dr. David Apfelberg, a plastic surgeon located in Atherton, California. After multiple laser treatments, the doctor was able to remove Cody’s growth.
While Cody’s parents were happy with her improved health, they also wanted her to lead a typical life and fit in with the crowd. To even out her skin, an additional operation would be required. They decided to look for another plastic surgeon that could help and be “normal.” Dr. Milton Waner was found by them in New York. This physician could remove the scars from Cody’s face, although it wouldn’t be easy.
“She had extensive tissue destruction, we performed several procedures to restore her face back to normalcy.” Dr. Waner told Fox News.
The Halls were not ultra-wealthy but the strangers’ contributions were what made a difference. They began a fundraising effort, and $376,000 was raised for medical costs, and for over the course of fourteen years, Cody underwent 18 operations.
“She looks much, much better now, if you saw her walking on the street, you would never know she had had any problems,” Dr. Waner announced.
“It was an emotional day, and there were some tears,” Cody explained to The Sun, “especially when I saw [my husband] at the altar, but only tears of joy,” Cody who is currently living the life of her dreams declared.
“I just want to show people that there is a happy ending,” she added.
Sources: AWM, Upliftingtoday, Ronproject