A six-year-old boy born without eyes is one of only 60 cases in the world and is subjected to cruel taunts from strangers
Christian Buchanan, from Woodbury, Tennessee, suffers from a Tessier facial cleft with microphthalmia, which has just 60 known cases in medical history.
Since being born with large gaps in his face, Christian has required a feeding tube since he was just four days old and has endured seven reconstruction operations.
Despite the condition leaving the youngster unable to see, as well as affecting his learning and speech, his mother Lacey insists the disorder has not stopped Christian from living a full life.
She said: ‘Christian is a very typical little boy. He’s learning to read, he likes to wrestle with his little brother – all the things that any six-year-old would enjoy.’
Although the youngster, who is learning to play the violin and working towards an orange belt in karate, manages to get the most out of his life, he still endures cruel comments from strangers.
Lacey said: ‘I was unaware before Christian was born that there is this huge social stigma about being different, looking different, and most people didn’t know how to handle somebody with that type of difference.’
She is speaking out to raise awareness of disabilities in the hope of making people more accepting of those who look different.
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Christian Buchanan was born with no eyes due to a condition that has just 60 known cases
His mother Lacey (pictured), who was shocked at the reactions to her son, is speaking out to raise awareness of disabilities in the hope of making others more accepting of people’s looks
Christian (pictured with his father Chris) has never seen after being born with the disorder
‘He has to navigate the world in the dark’
Speaking of her son’s disorder, Lacey told Barcroft TV: ‘Christian’s condition is called Tessier Cleft Lip and Palate, he has classifications three, four and five which include microphthalmia.
‘His condition was caused by amniotic banding syndrome.
‘Fibrous bands can form in the womb and if they attach to the baby they cut off blood flow, so Christian’s banding happened to attach to his face.
‘The biggest way Christian’s condition affects his daily life is his vision impairment.
‘Because he is completely blind, he has to learn to navigate the world in the dark.
She said: ‘Our world is made for sighted people and he has to learn to live in it without the benefit of sight; we have to do things a little differently sometimes but its totally doable and he is doing it.’
‘Christian will have more surgeries in the future, that’s just the nature of this beast.’
Having never been able to see anything, Christian is forced to ‘navigate the world in the dark’
Lacey insists the disorder has not stopped her son from living the normal life of a six-year-old
She adds she was unaware of the stigma around disabilities until after Christian was born