Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Afflicted Tot Begins Surgical Makeover

Associated Press

A little girl with a furry, werewolflike face that scares other children began a surgical makeover Tuesday to save her from deadly cancer and a short, unhappy life.

A Philadelphia pediatric surgeon believes his procedure can rid 2-year-old Abys DeJesus of the cancer-prone cells and hairy disfigurement once known as “human werewolf syndrome” and leave her virtually unscarred.

Abys was born in Puerto Rico with hairy congenital nevus, a rare condition that causes dense hair to sprout between her eyes, over her nose and over more than half her face, puckering one eye.

It is similar in appearance but apparently unrelated to the “werewolf gene,” a disorder that strikes only men in a single Mexican family and makes them so hairy some have joined the circus as “werewolves.”

No one else in Abys’ family is afflicted.

Abys often prompts screams from children and curious stares from adults. In the past, people like Abys would be outcasts, said Dr. Adrian Lo of Philadelphia’s St. Christopher’s Hospital.

“From the name of the condition alone, you can imagine what life was like with this disfigurement.” On Tuesday, Lo inserted five balloon-like implants beneath the skin on Abys’ neck, nape, cheek and forehead. Over the next two months, he will gradually pump them full of saline solution, stretching the skin a bit at a time.

After two months, the implants will be removed, the hairy portion will be cut away and the extended flesh stitched over the opening.

Abys’ mother, Cindly DeJesus and father, Luis Perez, brought her to the U.S. for the surgery.