When she was one day old, a tiny purple shadow appeared on Kristen's face. Within a week, her nightmare had begun. The spot rapidly grew into a massive, ugly tumour, consuming her face and erasing her otherwise normal features. By three months, she was unrecognisable and in a great deal of pain. "Even before she could talk, she was aware there was something wrong", states Kristen's mother, Michelle. The tumour prevented her breathing properly and she was losing sight in one eye.

Doctors told Michelle to take her baby home. There was nothing they could do. "As a mother, the feeling that you can't do anything is just killing". But through the media, Michelle came across Dr Milton Waner, one of the only doctors in the world willing to treat babies with this condition. He identified Kristen's tumour as a haemangioma and immediately began treatment.

Now, after eight years of multiple, invasive treatments, Kristen is travelling to Dr Waner's clinic in New York for one last time. "I'm excited about the operation", she states. "He's going to make this part of my face look like that part". The surgery means an end to the bullying that, at one stage, forced Kristen to change schools. "Lots of people kept saying I looked ugly and stuff. It was mean".

But Kristen's life could have been so much worse if she hadn't met Dr Waner when she was still a baby. Unlike Kristen, five year old Ala Wasawska has never had any treatment. "Mothers who were pregnant didn't want to look at Ala because they were scared their child may look the same", confides Ala's mother. "Everyone was wondering if my husband would leave me, how our marriage would survive this".

Dr Milton plans to operate on Ala first and then Kristen. "The tumour has displaced and disfigured everything", he says, examining Ala. To remove it, he will have to cut down to the bone. One of the main risks of this operation is the blood loss. "Haemangiomas are blood filled tumours. When we cut into them, there's a tremendous amount of bleeding", Waner explains. For a young child like Ala, losing only 400 ml puts her in substantial danger.

As she goes into surgery, Ala is clearly terrified. She struggles as the doctor anaesthetises her, while Ala's mother chokes back the tears. Five hours later, the worst is almost over. The treatment has given her the best possible chance at a normal life. But other children are not so lucky. "I wish we could get the message out to other parents that doctors like Dr Waner exist", states one mother. With few doctors willing to take on these cases, Dr Waner is overburdened. "So many parents are unable to reach me. My schedule is so full I don't think I could squeeze another minute in". Ala had to wait 18 months before her operation.

Kristen too, is delighted with the results of her surgery. As Michelle, reflects: "The fight against the tumour has been extremely emotional, very hard on relationships, on the family. But it's worth it in the end".