A teen is undergoing a groundbreaking surgical procedure after she smashed her face into a bathroom sink in a horrific accident.
Chiara Alberts was seven when her four front teeth were impaled into her jaw during the painful incident at her home.
She also broke her nose, fractured her skull and damaged two vertebrae in her neck.
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Now, aged 15, Chiara is undergoing miracle surgery to rebuild her mouth.
Almost a decade on from the shocking accident, she has had 47 procedures and is still unable to smile properly due to her facial muscles not moving the way that they should.
But a Cape Town-based surgeon, Professor Rushdi Hendricks, is hoping to change everything.
“At least there’s hope now,” Chiara’s mum Monique, from Bela-Bela, Limpopo, in South Africa, told Need To Know.
“Because when we came to Professor Rushdi there was no hope.
“I took her to the doctor, who said she needed a dentist.
“The dentist said it’s very bad because you couldn’t even see her teeth and she needed to go to the ER.
“The doctor said if her nose fracture had been a millimetre higher, she would’ve been dead.
“He said she was very lucky she didn’t die with that impact. I just froze.”
Monique, 42, who owns a spa, was at work on the day of the accident while her daughter was at home with her nanny.
Chiara was eager to give her puppy a bath and had charged into the bathroom with the dog under her arm.
As she reached for the shampoo, she slipped.
After receiving a call from the nanny, Monique rushed home.
She and her husband, Graeme, 45, took her straight to the hospital where they were dealt devastating news about their daughter’s injuries.
Chiara has been in and out of hospital ever since, mostly to treat a recurring infection in her jaw.
Professor Hendricks, a maxillofacial and oral surgeon, asked to see Chiara as soon as possible, and he consulted with her in March.
Chiara had a CT scan which revealed there was a piece of bone broken off in the middle of her upper jaw which was causing the ongoing infection.
He said: “When they tried to move the teeth, they couldn’t because it was stuck in the bone.
“Then a surgeon did a procedure where he cut the bone into little segments to make it easier to move, but that wasn’t the right thing, because by cutting the bone it compromised the blood supply to the area.
“I cut off the tips of the teeth and got her to the point where she was infection-free for the first time in many a year.”
Chiara is now three steps away from getting a new smile, and it’s all down to a technique pioneered by Professor Hendricks in 2011.
He helped to design a distractor device with engineer Professor George Vicatos from the University of Cape Town’s Department of Mechanical Engineering and Design engineer, James Boonzaier.
She’s unable to speak clearly because of the device in her mouth and until it’s removed she’s on a liquid diet.
When the process is complete she’ll have a reconstructed upper jaw with new bone and gum tissue as well as a hard palate.
Chiara says the toughest part of her ordeal has been being in hospital and out of school.
She said: “For me, it’s more about not being at home or at school and missing out all the time.
“And not being able to see my friends.
“I’m hopeful and positive. It will be nice to actually be able to smile again.”
The operations will take about two years to complete and Monique is thrilled.
The mum said: “For us, this is the best thing that could have ever happened.
“I’d rather take the pain for her. But she’s strong and she’s almost there.
“We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
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