BOY BORN WITH HIS BRAIN GROWING IN HIS NOSE

As a fetus, Ollie Trezise’s brain grew inside his
nose and he has been described as the ‘real-life
Pinocchio’ by his proud mother.
Ollie was born with a rare condition which caused
his brain to grow through a crack in his skull into
his nose. The 21-month-old has already
undergone several painful operations to help him
to breathe and to close the gap in his skull.
While 20 weeks pregnant, a scan showed Ollie’s
mother, Amy Poole, 22, that her son was growing
unusual amounts of soft tissue on his face, but
she was still shocked after she gave birth. She
described his nose as being like a golf ball on a
tiny face and body. At first, she wasn’t sure how
she’d cope but was always certain she’d love him
no matter what his nose looked like.
An MRI finally confirmed that the lump was an
encephalocele – a defect that causes the brain to
grow through a hole in the skull, creating a
protruding sac.
When doctors told Poole they’d need to operate on
Ollie’s nose, she was hesitant at first, but agreed
after hearing that he might otherwise contract
meningitis or another serious infection.
The surgery involved cutting open his skull to
remove the excess sac of brain fluid and rebuild
his nose.
After recovering from the surgery, Ollie has been
laughing and playing with his 4-year-old sister,
who is sometimes so jealous of her little brother’s
nose that she grabs it, according to Poole.

Unfortunately, Ollie’s not done with the surgeries.

He will need further operations in the future but

doctors are waiting to see how his skull develops

first.

It’s unlikely that Ollie’s nose will ever look 100%

normal, but the only that upsets his mother is the

fear of him being bullied by other children for the

way he looks.

Ollie’s mother says her son is always bombarded

with cruel comments from strangers. One person

said her son should’ve never been born, others call

him ugly.

“To me, Ollie is perfect,” she says. “He is my little

real-life Pinocchio and I couldn’t be prouder of

him. Ollie will probably never look like all the other

children and I’m terrified that he will be bullied at

school. But he is such a lovely boy that it’s

impossible not to adore him.”