Girl Granted Restorative Surgery for Christmas

By Colleen Chen, NEWS 9

ALTUS, Oklahoma -- A 15-year-old from Altus got her Christmas wish granted, thanks to surgeons from the OU Medical Center.

At just four-years-old, Laura Bacon's visited the hospital to get a radiation treatment on her right eye. The treatment was for a cancerous tumor, but the radiation damaged the teen's face.

"It didn't grow properly," surgeon Ivan Wayne said. "It was almost like half her face was stuck."

Since then, Bacon has worn her hair to cover her face, a habit that has weighed on the heart of her mother.

"I know she's a beautiful girl, but she has never felt it," Leslie Bacon said.

The teen got her Christmas wish this holiday season of a long-awaited surgery to repair the damage.

"I'm just so excited," Laura Bacon said. "I've wanted this forever."

Surgeons worked for four hours on the teens face.

"We had to stretch the optic nerve and the miracle was she still had good vision in the eye," surgeon Scott Sigler said.

Laura Bacon is beyond thrilled, but still has a few more surgeries to go through, including procedure on her jaw.