Florida meisie, twee, finally has her ‘Batman mask’ birthmark removed

Dokters in Russia have ‘safely removed’ a ‘Batman mask’ birthmark from a two-year-old girl from Florida using pioneering surgery.

Luna Tavares-Fenner, van Florida, had a huge nevus birthmark covering her nose and eyelids, and she made regular trips with her mother to Russia for more than two years for treatment.

The toddler had been receiving photodynamic therapy, a treatment which is not available in the US.

Luna was born with congenital melanocytic naevus, a skin condition that produces abnormally dark blemishes, usually across the face.

The treatment is said to work by doctors injecting an unnamed drug into a patient, which then accumulates in the birthmark and causes the tissue to die, with new and healthy skin growing beneath.

After six operations, Luna, aged two years and nine months, has had her birthmark removed and will fly home for Christmas before returning to Russia in the New Year for cosmetic treatment.

In 'n eksklusiewe onderhoud, Dr Pavel Popov told East2West News: ‘Luna has already started speaking and she says herself: ‘My black spot has gone. I am a princess’.’

Luna had surgery at a clinic in Krasnodar – a Russian city close to Ukraine amid high tension over reports of a new conflict between the two countries.

It also coincided with the Covid-19 crisis, yet Luna and her mother Carol Fenner, 37, managed to keep returning so the girl could receive the groundbreaking treatment.

And there has been a heartwarming result from the operations which medics say has prevented possible skin cancer for the toddler.

‘We only had six operations to remove the nevus and have succeeded in making it disappear,’ explained Dr Popov.

‘The main medical part of the task is done. This does not mean that we have finished treatment at all.

‘We are letting Luna rest from the treatment she has undergone and then we will undertake the aesthetic surgeries.

‘Later we aim to make sure Luna will not have any complexes when she comes to the age where she is concerned about her appearance.’

He added that the treatment was a ‘success’ and said he is not yet sure how long Luna’s cosmetic treatment will take.

Hy het gesê: ‘I am completely satisfied with the result of the surgery.

‘Luna is very loyal to us. Often there is an aversion to the medical staff. Children are afraid of doctors.

‘But Luna brings her dolls to the appointment every time – and asks me to treat their faces.

‘I attach a plaster to the doll’s face. Luna is happy that the doll is also treated. I guess the lack of pain in the treatment allows her to be so loyal.

‘I can’t tell you how long the cosmetic part of Luna’s treatment will take. It depends on too many factors – pandemics, toesluitings, visas.’

Luna’s mother said she was grateful that the treatment did not involve invasive and ‘aggressive’ chirurgie, which would have been the case elsewhere.

‘Luna is good now,’ sy het gese. ‘Her bandages are off.

‘We’re going to fly away for Christmas and come back for the final cosmetic surgeries at the end of January.

‘I don’t regret at all having the treatment here. Luna doesn’t feel the pain.

‘She dances a few hours after the surgery.’

Carolina, a US citizen originally from Brazil, is ‘really happy’ and speaks to other mothers receiving different treatments in the US.

‘I spoke to a lot of mothers doing traditional surgeries in the US and they are more susceptible to infections.

‘The kids stay in hospital a long time, and undergo general anaesthetics.

‘Multiple anaesthetics would have demolished Luna’s physical and mental health. She had only local.’

Carolina and her husband Thiago Tavares, 33, raised tens of thousands of dollars for their daughter’s treatment in Krasnodar and also had the support of an anonymous Russian donor, which they called a ‘miracle’.

Before she left the US a cruel woman in a Florida church branded her lovable daughter a ‘monster’, an insult that prompted Carolina to put her daughter through surgery, setting her on a path that took her to Russia for the first time.

Praat in 2019 about her daughter’s treatment, Carolina said: ‘When I decided to come few months ago everybody called me crazy.

‘But something in my head was telling me I should try.

‘People say mothers feel something, I feel it’s true.

‘I knew I needed to try and come.

‘I don’t know why, I just decided to give it a try.’

Dr Popov convinced her online that he could cure her child without putting her through debilitating agony.

‘I wanted to avoid the aggressive surgeries that I was seeing with the other doctors in the US,’ sy het gese.

Dr Popov is a cancer specialist who has been ‘working in photodynamic therapy for over 20 jare '.

Luna is clear of cancer but the technique can also be used for patients with her condition.