MOST teens when asked what they’d most like say they would love a new football or a pair of new cool sneakers, but 17-year-old Alan Doherty’s request was slightly more specific.
He wanted a new face.
Alan, a bright, witty teenager from Letter-kenny, Co. Donegal is unlike most kids his age. He cannot speak, or cry or laugh. He feeds through a tube in this stomach and breathes through a hole in his throat.
Alan was born with one of the most extraordinary birth defects known to man. He was born without a chin. His condition, which is called Otofacial Syndrome, is very rare, with only one other known case in the world.
Alan communicates with his family, friends and the general public by typing on a special voice generating keypad, which he carries around his neck from morning till night. It was on this keypad that he typed the words, “Please, I want a new face.”
Bill Broderick, executive director of the Physically Challenged Irish and American Youth Team (PCIAYT), a charity that helps physically challenged children build their self-esteem, confidence and career development through competitive sporting activities, educational development and cultural exchange programs, was at the receiving end of Alan’s request after they met.
“I turned to my new friend and said, ‘Alan, is there anything that you want here in New York before you go home?’ and he just blew me away when he said, ‘Mr. Broderick, Can you get me a new face?’” Broderick didn’t expect the teenager to come out with that. “It hit me between the eyes,” he said.
Not knowing if it was medically possible to give Alan what he asked for, Broderick took a chance and made an appointment with a doctor at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York for the next day.
Alan was part of the 20 Irish physically challenged children who come from both the Republic and Northern Ireland each year for a two-week period to participate in the Empire State Games for the Physically Challenged. Alan made Donegal proud by winning five gold, five silver and one bronze medal.
It was on his trip over last year that Broderick, an attorney, and the rest of his team at PCIAYT got to know the wonderful person Alan was on the inside. At Mount Sinai hospital the next day, Dr. Elliot Rose, a surgeon, drew Alan a new face.
“The minute he saw the drawing of the face that Dr. Rose could give him he was determined to have it,” recalls Broderick.
Upon his return home to Letterkenny Alan told his parents about his new wish. Thinking it was very risky the Dohertys immediately tried to talk Alan out of the idea, but with heartfelt convincing from their son and conversations with Broderick, they finally agreed to come out six weeks ago and see first hand what kind of results would be possible with surgery.
Through the efforts of PCIAYT and the talents of the skilled team of Mount Sinai surgeons, led by Rose, Alan will have his wish granted. Describing Rose as one of a kind, John Hayden, a director at PCIAYT said the doctor is a pioneer in developing microsurgical facial reconstruction and a professor at the division of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Mount Sinai Medical School.
Broderick and his charity are no strangers to helping kids with physical challenges. Eight years ago they met a young girl from Cork called Denise who was horrifically burned as a baby when she fell into a burning pit of refuse.
Through the efforts of the charity and Rose, Denise recently completed her final operation after five years of innovative microsurgery and now is an attractive 21-year-old.
The Irish Voice met with Alan on Thursday, June 7, four days before his surgery. When asked if he was nervous he replied, “Sure why would I be, won’t I be having a lovely snooze for myself!” He typed his reply as he waited for his eight to 12 hour surgery.
Alan, who is a second year student in Letterkenny Vocational School, said he looks forward to the day when people will stop staring at him.
“From the surgery I want a perfect chin and no one to stare at me anymore,” he admitted. He said when it’s all over he looks towards the future when someday he will work as a photographer.
Alan’s determination to get a new face reached out to so many people at home in Letterkenny that he managed to raise €40,000 ($53,000). Alan took charge of his fate and went knocking door-to-door asking people to help him get a new face.
“I also went bag packing Saturday and Sunday in Tesco’s,” he added.
Using CT scans and imaging to first redesign and rebuild Alan’s face outside the operating room, the complex process will come to life in three stages using Alan’s own bone material and skin to construct a lower jaw and chin. The complete process will take over a year to complete in this first of a kind operation.
The first stage of Alan’s new face took place on Monday, June 11 where doctors removed Alan’s hip bone, transferred it to his back to be housed under the skin for several months to allow the bone to receive nourishment and surround itself with nerves.
In or around October, the entire bone, muscle and skin unit together will be microsurgically transferred to construct Alan’s lower face. Finally, Rose and his team, including dental reconstruction specialist Dr. Alex Greenberg and cranial and facial specialist Dr. Peter Taub, will combine their skill sets to complete Alan’s new look.
Alan and his parents Danny and Bernie will spend the next six to eight weeks in New York staying with family, while Alan recovers from Monday’s surgery. They will return home for a few months and come back again in October.
Although it’s not yet known the cost of the whole procedure, it will be in the six figures according to Hayden. Broderick told the Irish Voice that PCIAYT are very grateful to the members of Plandome Country Club in Long Island, especially Jack Donahue, who has been a strong financial supporter for Alan and the PCIAYT team.
Broderick and his team at PCIAYT are hopeful that others will come forward to help Alan get his new face.
To make a donation to help Alan’s dream look come true log onto www.pcirishteam.org.
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