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Three-year-old Alana Zarate is, generally, a happy-go-lucky little girl who loves singing Disney songs. She had no idea that she was born with a birth defect that caused her face to form asymmetrically.
Alana has microtia, a birth deformity that causes the ear to not fully form. The little girl’s right ear is underdeveloped, which muffles her ability to hear out of that ear canal.
For a couple years, Alana had no idea she was different. It was only recently, after she turned three, that she noticed the abnormality for herself.
Her mother, Sarah, can recall the moment vividly because it broke her heart.
Sarah had been helping Alana do her hair as the little girl sat in front of the mirror. It was odd that day, because Alana kept looking at herself and “turning her head from side to side, comparing her ears.”
“That’s when she said, ‘My little ear is different. I don’t want it to be different,’” Sarah said.
Before this moment, Alana had been blissfully unaware that her ear made her look different from her peers. Sometimes other kids would approach her to ask to look at her ear, but even then, Alana hadn’t quite understood.
Her mother noticed her Alana even took her hearing aid out every day when she came home from preschool because she had no idea it was helping her.
Now, Alana’s parents can do nothing but wait on doctors and hope they will be able to help Alana more.
The family is currently hoping that Alana can have her first surgery scheduled before she begins school, where other kids might bully her for her difference appearance. This first operation will, at least, make Alana’s appearance more even and hopefully keep others from poking fun at her.
It will, however, be several years more before doctors feel that they can operate on Alana’s right ear canal and try to improve her hearing.
Until then, the family is hoping to raise money to cover for more of Alana’s present and future medical funds. If you’d like to donate, you can do so here.
