When little Eli Thompson was born in Mobile, Alabama in 2015 he was immediately dubbed a “Miracle Baby” after he was born with no nose. The Alabama boy gained media attention at the time, after he was born with the rare congenital arhinia condition, which reportedly only affects one person in every 197 million people. According to Local 15, little Eli passed away on Sunday at two years of age at the Spring Hill Medical Center.

‘Miracle baby’ born with no nose or sinus cavities

Eli had no nose, sinus or nasal cavities when he was born, but his father, Jeremy Finch, described the Baby Boy as being very bright and always happy and smiling.

He said Eli particularly loved giving everyone fist bumps.

Mother was initially shocked after the ‘miracle baby’s’ birth

Eli was born three weeks early on March 4, 2015. Inside Edition quotes an interview with Eli’s mother, Brandi McGlathery, back in 2015 when she said they had no idea Eli would be born without a nose. McGlathery said she was shocked after she delivered the baby boy and said that it “scared the living daylights” out of her and that she had no idea such a thing was possible. When he was born, Eli was breathing through his mouth and doctors soon performed a tracheotomy to allow the baby to breathe when eating.

That breathing tube reportedly had to be cleaned out several times each day.

No unnecessary surgeries for Eli

KTLA5 quotes McGlathery as telling the Huntsville Times after her son came home that she didn’t want Eli to have to go through any surgeries unnecessarily. She said they thought Eli was perfect just the way he was and that they didn’t want to make any changes until the day Eli himself said he wanted to have a nose.

She said they would take things day by day. According to his father, Jeremy Finch, two years later Eli had just started to communicate using baby sign language and was receiving speech therapy at their home.

While it is unclear what caused death of the two-year-old, Finch posted on Facebook Sunday to give the heartbreaking news that Eli had passed away.

He said he will never be able to make sense why this happened to his son and that the loss will hurt them deeply for a long time. However Finch did note how blessed he was to have had such a beautiful child in his life. Finch said Eli will be waiting to give him one of those famous fist bumps when he meets him at Heaven’s gates.

Eli’s family is now organizing the "miracle baby’s" funeral, which will reportedly be held at the Fountain of Life Church in Saraland. An interview with Eli's mother after the "miracle baby" was born is included below.
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