NORTH ANDOVER — Freidy Perez dropped out of school in Venezuela at the age of 10 because other children ridiculed him so badly for having facial deformities.
Now 14, Perez, who prefers to be called by his middle name, Alejandro, spends his days catching fish to help feed his poor, working-class family. A condition called facial neurofibromatosis caused the upper part of his face to droop downward, covering his left eye and making it look like a bone was sticking out next to his eye socket.
But thanks to the generosity of several people in the Merrimack Valley and Southern New Hampshire, Alejandro has a new look.
Dr. George Chatson of North Andover and Dr. Gary Rogers from Children's Hospital in Boston performed four hours and $40,000 worth of surgery on Alejandro for free at Holy Family Hospital in Methuen in an attempt to remove as much of a facial neurofibroma tumor from the boy's forehead, scalp, cheek and eyelids as possible. The benign tumor itself is incurable — it can only be de-bulked and his face reconstructed as best as possible, according to Chatson.
Perhaps the most noticeable difference is that the doctors eliminated the part of Alejandro's face that stuck out and hung off to the side.
"It is our hope that he can now feel more confident with his appearance," Chatson said during a post-operation meeting with Alejandro in Chatson's Turnpike Street office. "We want to encourage him to try and go to school again."
"Nah," Alejandro said after Dr. Rodrigo Diaz-Siso, a Venezuelan doctor who served as Alejandro's advocate, translated Chatson's words into Spanish.
"At school, they won't take him because he's too old," Diaz-Siso explained.
Alejandro can't read or write.
"He's too far behind," Diaz-Siso said. "There's some adult education programs in Venezuela. We're going to look into that."
Alejandro has limited vision in his left eye.
"He asked if he was going to stay with his left eye closed," Diaz-Siso told Chatson.
Chatson said the answer is yes, because that part of Alejandro's face cannot be corrected.
But the surgery improved the shape of Alejandro's face, Chatson said.
Alejandro's mother, Maria Villarroel, accompanied the teen to the United States and agreed with Chatson, saying, "Si."
"It looks more normal now than it did before," Chatson said.
Chatson said it's possible that Alejandro could receive more surgery to further correct his appearance in Venezuela or in the United States.
Alejandro was still swollen from the operation — he looked like he had a ping-pong ball under his left eyelid — when he saw Chatson on Nov. 18.
"These tumors have a high blood vessel content so his face was still quite swollen, as expected. His swelling will gradually improve over the next several months," Chatson said after the meeting.
Alejandro lives with his mother, stepfather, and six siblings ranging in age from 8 to 30 in Yoco, a tiny town — Alejandro's mother estimated 3,000 people live there — on Venezuela's northeast coast. His mother is a cleaning woman and his father is a blacksmith.
Alejandro started school in pre-school and attended on and off until finally giving up at age 10.
"He was pushed around a lot and called names," Diaz-Siso said. "They called him toad."
One day, some kids swiped a ball from Alejandro, but he managed to take it back and throw it at them.
"It's not that he's a violent kid," Diaz-Siso said. "Just confident enough that he doesn't want people to mess with him."
Betty Dunn of Windham, N.H., hosted Alejandro, his mother and Diaz-Siso for a month at her home, and the Windham-based international children's relief agency, Nobody's Children, paid for the trio's expenses and even for two Christmas shopping sprees.
Diaz-Siso will buy a new refrigerator and other household items that the Perez family needs, all thanks to supporters of Alejandro and Nobody's Children, said Nobody's Children Executive Director Elaine Yourtee.
Alejandro didn't know it at the time, but his journey to the United States started about two years ago when a missionary from Salem, N.H., Marie Sommovigo, spotted him on the street while she was on a mission in his town.
Sommovigo, who is out of town for the holidays and could not be reached for comment, first saw Alejandro on the last day of one of her trips to Yoco and decided he needed help.
She made it a point to find the boy the next time she went to Yoco, and she was persistent in finding assistance for him, Yourtee said.
Sommovigo contacted several organizations and eventually got in touch with Yourtee.
"She never thought she would find help in her own backyard," Yourtee said.
Yourtee contacted Chatson, whom she worked with to bring a young Romanian man here for facial surgery early last year. She also talked to her husband, Ed, a doctor who attended infectious disease training at Yale with a Venezuelan physician. Yourtee spoke to the Venezuelan, Dr. Raul Isturiz, to see if he knew anybody who could help.
Isturiz contacted Diaz-Siso's father, who is a plastic surgeon at the same hospital that Isturiz works at. Diaz-Siso's father then contacted Diaz-Siso, a general practitioner who wants to train in plastic surgery, Diaz-Siso and Yourtee explained.
"And I jumped at the chance," Diaz-Siso said.
Diaz-Siso helped Alejandro and his mother obtain passports and visas to come to the United States temporarily for the Nov. 2 surgery, and he traveled here with them, served as their translator and, along with Alejandro's mother, stayed with the boy from the time he was admitted into the hospital, throughout the surgery and until he was discharged.
"His mother and this man gave him the courage, and he was a great patient," Yourtee said of Alejandro.
The trio headed home last Tuesday, having been here since Oct. 26.
Want to help?
Nobody's Children is seeking donations to help others like Alejandro. Donations can be sent to: 45 Sharon Road, Windham, N.H. 03087.
ÔÇæÔÇæÔÇæ
Join the discussion. To comment on stories and see what others are saying, log on to eagletribune.com.
