MOBILE, Ala. – A boy who was born without a nose and with a rare disease has died, according to WPMI.
The NBC affiliate reported that Eli Thompson was born in 2015 with congenital arhinia, a condition that causes the absence of a nose and nasal or sinus cavities.
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There have been only about 30 reported cases of arhinia, according to the National Institute of Health.
The station has covered Eli's story for years, Eli died Saturday night.
Eli's father, Jeremy Finch, posted on Facebook, saying in part:
"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, but I'm so blessed to have had this beautiful boy in my life.
"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. I love you little man."