Young woman born with NO FACE hopes for surgery

Khadija Khatoon has endured 21 years of living with a severe facial deformity that means she doesn't even know if she has eyes or a nose. Ms Khatoon's mouth is reduced to just a small slit on the left side of her face.

The young woman, from Kolkata in Eastern India, was born with a facial deformity that has baffled doctors at her local hospital. She was born with thick eyelids and has never been able to view the world. As she began to get older, her deformity grew out of control. Ms Khatoon, who was born into an impoverished family, has never gone to school and has largely been rejected by her community.

Doctors told her parents that they were unable to treat the mysterious condition and she has never been given a formal diagnosis. They suspect the woman suffers from a severe form neurofibromatosis, a rare deformity that causes tumours to grow along nerves.However, she insists that she is happy with her life. She said: "I'm made this way and I accept it graciously.

Dr Anirban Deep Banerjee, a neurosurgeon from Apollo Hospital, Kolkata, said that the Ms Ms Khatoon could have a "fatal tumour" inside her face. He has urged her parents to take her for a gene test. He added: "If she's willing we would need to do a lot of tests to determine how successful surgery would be." Local government officer, Rupak Dutta, 52, from Kolkata, has taken on the case to fundraise for a life-changing surgery.