Cassidy has had a series of skin graft and facial reconstruction procedures at Levine Children’s Hospital in Charlotte since she was 11 years old. Doctors will stretch skin flaps over a bone or cartilage graft from another area of her body in three final procedures spread out over two to three weeks.
Cassidy’s optimism and drive have never been stifled by anything. Cassidy was born without eyes and a nose, a rare birth abnormality that occurred within the first two weeks of pregnancy, and no one knows why.
Cassidy has had four to five “expander” procedures to break through her gums so far. She then underwent surgery to establish nasal passages and to shatter her jaw in order to correctly set it.
Following that, a skin graft was performed to assist maintain her nasal passage open, as it was closing. She underwent yet another major jaw surgery to allow her top jaw to shift forward and align with her lower jaw. This summer, three further procedures were performed to prepare the area for the attachment of her nose. She stated that they will get new artificial eyes once Cassidy’s nose surgery was completed.
Cassidy has attended Governor Morehead, a residential K-12 school for the blind, from the fifth grade, where no obstacle was too great for her. She is a member of the track team and received a scholarship at the Charlotte Curling Club last year.
