This little boy from Nevada is pictured here before life-changing surgery that allowed him to blink and sleep with his eyes closed for the first time in his 7 years of life.
Can you even try to imagine what that must have been like?
Carter Bresee was born with lamellar ichthyosis (LI), a rare genetic skin disease in which the body creates skin cells that don’t separate from each other on the skin’s surface as they should. Additionally, the body does not shed quickly enough, leading to the formation of brown scales.
Fox News has followed his condition for years, leading Carter to develop a base of supporters in Nevada, many of whom contributed via GoFundMe to his medical bills in May, when he was lucky enough to undergo a skin graft of the eyelids that changed his life.
It also caused Carter’s eyelids to turn outward, preventing him from closing his eyes.
“He can’t blink, he sleeps with his eyes open and often experiences a lot of pain and discomfort because of it,” Carter’s mother Shai wrote on GoFundMe, which raised $46,000 to cover the $8,000 cost of oculoplastic surgery that would help the boy close his eyes.
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“I didn’t realize how much of a community feeling we really had,” she admitted on Fox 5, after seeing how much money the two had received. “It’s really crazy to feel so included.”
Last month in San Diego, the surgery was successful and Carter slept. Oh my God, he slept.
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“He slept until noon today. He had the best night’s sleep,” Shai said in a video interview after the first night the boy was able to sleep with his eyes closed.
She added that he was a “champion” throughout the sometimes painful operation, remaining calm and asking for medication if the operation became too serious.
WATCH the story here from Fox5 News and SHARE this poor boy’s palpable relief…