Unfortunately, not every birth goes flawlessly and without complications. When Cassidy Hooper was born in 1996, doctors were completely shocked to find out that the little baby girl didn’t have a nose or eyes.
Cassidy suffers from an extremely rare birth defect which baffled doctors.
The eyes and nose both weren’t developed, but baby Cassidy was otherwise completely healthy. She didn’t suffer from any other medical issues and has grown to be a young, kind woman with a positive outlook on life.
“Her heart and brain are normal,” her mom Susan Hooper told ABC News.
“Nothing else is going on with her.”
As a child, Cassidy had to go to a special school for blind people. Unfortunately, the little girl was bullied because of her appearance by her peers, but people also stood up for her and admired her wonderful character and optimism.
In fact, she’s always had a life motto that she swears by.
“Things always may be hard, but I don’t need easy. I just need possible.”
At 11 years old, the girl and her parents decided to look into surgery for her nose.
As you can imagine, the surgeries would be massively complicated to give Cassidy a nose, but her parents definitely wanted to do everything in their power to make their girl’s wish come true. Mom Susan and dad J. Aaron both spent countless hours at the hospital.
“This is Cassidy’s choice. It’s what she wants. We think she’s perfect the way she is. But if she wants to get a nose, her father and I don’t want to say ‘No, you can’t have one.’”
The surgeries would have to be planned over a couple of years. While she was still a child, the first surgery was required to carve a space for the future nose.
In her senior year of high school, the time finally came to construct a nose. She went through three different surgeries by then, and doctors pulled bone from her rib and skin from her forehead to construct the nose.
“I’ll have a real nose like everyone else’s,” the brave girl said according to ABC News.
“It’s been a long process, but the day has finally come,” dad added. “Cassidy is certainly excited for this day to be here.”
The surgery went well, and Cassidy finally knew what it felt like to be able to breathe through your nose.
Her prosthetic eyes also had to be replaced after all these years, but the medical costs are extremely high, and insurance doesn’t step in. Friends of the family have created a crowdfunding website CassidyHooper.org to help pay for the family’s medical bills.
“Insurance didn’t pay one cent,” mom told. “We had already started the process to do her nose, moving her eyes closer together and having her skull reshaped. We were not going to pay for it then have to pay again.”
Recently, Cassidy made headlines again when she graduated from college.
This girl has been through an incredibly tough journey, but can now proudly say that she’s graduated from Central Piedmont Community College with a degree in Associates of Arts in her hand.
Even though it wasn’t easy, Cassidy learned how to live on her own after she graduated from high school and she’s also always been active in the work field and volunteering for charity organizations.
“I got out there and I realized, wait a minute, this is actually happening?!” she said after the graduation ceremony according to WBTV. “Am I dreaming or am I awake?! It just shocked me at how fast the time went!”
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