The Baby Born Without A Nose Dies At The Age Of 2

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When Eli Thompson was born, he attracted worldwide media attention as he was born without a nose. Sadly Eli died on Saturday evening, according to his father, Jeremy Finch.

Eli had turned 2 years old on March 4.

The boy was pronounced dead at around 10:40 p.m. at Springhill Medical Center in Mobile, Finch said.

Eli was “very, very bright and happy, always smiling and giving everybody fist bumps,” Finch said.

He used baby sign language, and Finch was starting to speech therapy at home with a speaking valve, he said. “His favorite sign was ‘cookie,'” the father said. The first thing he did every morning was to ask for a cookie, and he recently received the “Cookie Monster Award” from his daycare.

“He touched a lot of people’s lives,” Finch mentioned. “A lot of people cared about him.”

Eli was born at South Baldwin Hospital in Foley, and then immediately transported to USA Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile. He received a tracheotomy at just 5 days old.

Thousands followed Eli’s Story via a facebook page, which shared the tale of the baby born with arhinia, a rare facial anomaly said to affect only one in 197 million births.

At the age of 7 months old, Eli met another child, Tessa Evans from Ireland, then 2 1/2 years old, who also had arhinia.

“To get to introduce Tessa to Eli was like a dream come true and it meant the world to us to sit and talk with his family,” Tessa’s mother, Grainne Evans, wrote after the meeting. “Tessa was totally taken with Eli and hugged him and stroked his head. Watching Eli gaze up at her was too precious for words.”

Finch said that the family is still finalizing arrangements for his funeral service, which will be held at Fountain of Life Church in Saraland.