Eli Thompson was born with a rare condition called arhinia, which is defined as being born with the absence of a nose and nasal cavities. We are sad to announce that Eli has recently passed away because of his condition. He was just two years old.
The condition which little Eli was born with affects only one in 197 million births.
When Eli was born, he was given a tracheotomy, which is performed when a patient’s airway is blocked. It involves surgically opening the windpipe to allow access to a breathing tube. Eli passed away due to health complications stemming from his rare condition.
Jeremy Finch, Eli’s father, announced on Facebook that his son had passed away at Springhill Medical Centre in Alabama.
“We lost our little buddy last night. I’ll never be able to make sense of why this happened, and this will hurt deeply for a long time,” he wrote.
“But I’m so blessed to have had this beautiful boy in my life.”
“He finished his race a lot earlier than we would have liked, but it was God’s time to bring him back home. I’ll forever look forward to seeing him at the gates of Heaven waiting on me to give me another one of his famous fist bumps,” the post continued.
“I love you, little man. Rest in peace with my Father,” he finished.
Eli was a little boy with an upbeat and happy personality. He was loved by everyone around him and was always able to bring a smile to people’s faces.
According to Eli’s father, he was always cheerful and had a love for fist bumps. “He touched a lot of people’s lives,” Finch said. “A lot of people cared about him,” he told AL.com.
When Eli was born, he lived the first few months of his life amidst a media storm. From Inside Edition to PEOPLE to The Today Show, countless media outlets around the world were telling his story.
Eli’s story was followed by people all over the world on Facebook.
When Eli was born on March 4, 2015, his parents were shocked to find out that he had been born without a nose. Brandi McGlathery, Eli’s mother, had had a normal pregnancy without any complications. Eli was her second son.
Along the way, Eli had experienced many health issues, resulting in multiple visits to the emergency room and the hospital.
When Brandi was asked by AL.com about how the health of her son was progressing six months after his birth, she admitted that his health had been getting worse.
“Well, in all honesty, his health has been depleting lately. We had an incident where he turned blue because of a serious respiratory problem, & he’s projectile vomiting almost daily, & still is having problems gaining weight,” Brandi told AL.com.
Although Eli did have recurring health issues, he was always positive and happy. He even learned how to use baby sign language. His parents say that his favorite sign to use was “cookie”
Eli would ask for a cookie every morning, leading him to win the “Cookie Monster Award” at his daycare facility.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Eli’s family during this hard time. We hope that his life, although short, will be remembered as a happy and positive one.
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