A two-year-old girl is suffering from a bizarre condition -- her tongue is so large that she is choking to death on it. Zhyrille Cruz from the Philippines was born with a swollen mouth and diagnosed with lymphangioma, a rare condition that causes non-cancerous growths in the lymph nodes. She needs an operation soon to survive.
Her parents are poor and were earlier assured by doctors that nothing dangerous would happen to their daughter because of the condition. But it worsened with time, resulting in a swollen tongue which makes it difficult for Zhyrille to breathe.
The earning of the two-year-old's family is around $150 (about £112) per month, which her father Gerry Cruz, 28, gets as a contractor. Hence, the parents can't get her treated properly.
Mary Cruz, the mother of the two-year-old, took her to the local government 'sweepstakes office', the equivalent of National Lottery funding in the UK, a report by mirror.co.uk revealed.
"Zhyrille is the light in our hearts. We don't know what the future holds, but we will make this the best Christmas for her. Zhyrille is the best gift we could have. Her laughter makes everyone smile. I pray every day she will grow up to be a bright and beautiful young girl," Mary said.
"I wish for nothing but to see a smile on her lovely face every single second. I want to see her grow up and achieve her goals. That is our dream," she added.
The girl received funding for doctors to fit a tube into her neck to aid her in breathing. She is also receiving oral chemotherapy medicine at home for free which would help in reducing the size of the tumour.
She would be operated by the doctors if the size of her tumour doesn't reduce and her parents will have to pay for the surgery from their pocket.
"Heartbreakingly, the condition could be treated relatively easily with an operation in Britain. But without surgery, it is likely that Zhyrille will become one of the rare cases where lymphangioma ends up being fatal," the report stated.
