Darina Shpengler Little Russian girl born without lips and chin Country: Russia

A Biography of Darina Shpengler

Darina Shpengler was born with half a face, lacking lips and a chin, which caused her heartless relatives to cut off all contact with her. Living in Siberia, the little girl has no lips or chin, and her face is covered in blood. Doctors can only speculate why she was born with such serious abnormalities. The attacks on the little girl were so severe that her parents were forced to move to avoid the "righteous anger" of their relatives and so-called friends. Elena and Yuri from the Krasnoyarsk region, however, refuse to confine their daughter to the four walls of their home and hope that surgeons will soon be able to fully restore Darina's face. One of their relatives even reported to the police that Elena and Yuri intentionally disfigured their child, forcing the loving parents to explain themselves. The girl's mother told the independent website "The Siberian Times": "Darina has no lips. Her mouth is always open and constantly bleeding." "Only my sister supported me, while all other relatives simply stopped communicating with us." "My brothers, their children, my husband's mother - no one wanted to accept Darina. We don't hide our daughter from others. We take her everywhere with us." "My husband Yuri is not ashamed at all. He goes everywhere with Darina. People told us to put a mask on our child, to which my husband said, 'If you don't want to, don't look at her. But we accept her as she is'." Elena did not listen to the doctors' advice to "quietly" give up Darina, who would surely disappear "within the Russian orphan system". The girl was also denied a place in daycare, as the official reason for the refusal stated that such a child "instills fear" in other children. Social services, however, allocated a couple of teachers who visit Darina once a week to provide her with basic education. Elena adds, "We have a very sociable girl. We bought her a lot of toys, but nothing can replace friendly communication for her." "Our surgeons were shocked when they heard about Darina. Of course, our child will be helped soon, but we are all on edge." "And we need all our strength to help Darina. We need to raise and support her. She has so much to overcome." Darina was born prematurely at eight months of pregnancy, and the mother was so exhausted that she lost consciousness. Shortly after the birth of her daughter, Elena realized that something was wrong when the doctors started fussing and making phone calls. The baby was literally wrapped up so that the parents couldn't see their little girl. A few hours later, Elena asked one of the nurses to let her hold Darina. Surprisingly, the nurse asked her if she was ready for a "meeting with the child". When the mother saw the girl's wide-open mouth, she "fell into darkness" and lost consciousness again. Elena was taken to the intensive care unit, where the doctors suggested that she leave the child in the hospital, but she categorically refused. At the time of Darina's birth, her father was recovering from the consequences of a car accident in another medical institution. When he finally had a chance to meet his blood daughter, who had suffered from a "serious genetic failure with eight mutations in her body", paternal love proved to be unconditional. He told his wife, "She is yours, she is our daughter. And the truth is that our difficulties will only unite us even stronger." According to Elena, as Darina grew up, the help of doctors became less obvious. The couple began to raise funds for treatment in Moscow, where a serious operation was promised in a couple of years. The first operation, during which Darina's mouth was "patched up", was performed on schedule. Doctors say that the little patient is successfully recovering. Today, the plan is to create lips for the girl and grow bones and muscles for her chin. Orest Topolnitsky, a maxillofacial surgeon and doctor of medical sciences who participated in the operation to restore Darina's face, condemns human heartlessness. He said, "This girl is now in our hospital. This case is truly unique. Many charities refused to help, claiming that the girl is not a resident." "We took a risk and operated on her under free state insurance. However, the girl needs other surgeries." "We did the first and most difficult one. It was risky, as the child is very small, and any bleeding posed a threat." "We know that this family has problems with relatives who disliked the little girl from the very beginning. Some people have no heart, and it is simply shocking."