The journey to Sara`s smile begins at birth. Sara was born with a Cystic Hygroma on the left side of her neck. The removal of the Cystic Hygroma at one day old resulted in complete left side facial paralysis. Sara at 15 months old had a nerve graft that was not successfull. For 7 years we were in search of a cure for the paralysis we never gave up we finally found a doctor in Toronto Canada who has been successfull with this type of surgery called (Cross Face Nerve Graft) to give Sara a smile. March 24th 1997 Sara underwent the first of the two part surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children. Dr.Zuker took the sural nerve from Sara's right lower leg, sutured it into the right side of her face grafting into the normal facial nerves and brought the nerve across to the left side of her face. One year later March 24th 1998 Sara underwent surgery again to place the gracilis muscle from her right thigh into her left side of her face. Dr.Zuker then attached the nerve, the muscle, and the artery supply and 5 months later just this September Sara can now smile thanks to Dr. Zuker.
