The little boy who was born with no eyes

Marwanijung shines a torch at his eyes as his mother Salamu holds him protectively

This is the boy who was born with no eyes, but is heartbreakingly happy when shining a torch at his face.

Since he was eight months old, Marwanijun has been flashing light at the socket where his left eye should be.

Now doctors in China have discovered that he has an eye under the skin there - but it is too sensitive to ever be exposed.

The boy's parents were devastated when their son was born with only smooth skin in the sockets where his eyes should be.

But when father Madamihan and mother Salamu, both 26, took the child from their small community to a hospital in Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang, they were offered a glimmer of hope.

Doctors told them their son loved the torch because he actually had a left eye, but it was blocked by skin.

'He is eager to see light, and we pray everyday that he could see the light,' said the boy's father.

Sadly, experts at the Army 474 Hospital said the baby was not suitable for surgery because his eye has no lens.

Even if the surgery exposed his left eyeball, he would not be able see anything.

Doctors suggested that the boy could be suitable for artificial eye installation once he reaches 16 years old.

There are various reasons that children are born with no eyes.

Earlier this month, Lacey Buchanan made a touching video of her and her blind one-year-old son Christian.

He has no eyes because he suffers from tessier cleft - a rare and severe cleft palate that can affect different areas of the face, such as the mouth, nose, eyes and jaws.

In 2010, Taylor Garrison's daughter, Brielle, was born with a rare condition that left her eye sockets completely empty of tissue.

News by Dailymail

Read current news at http://bbc-cnn-worldnews.blogspot.com