07:21 PM CDT on Friday, June 2, 2006

By Jeremy Desel / 11 News

Jeremy Desel's 11 News report (Friday) | Thursday's 11 News report | Daniel sings "Jesus loves me" in Swahili

While it may take a while to erase the emotional scars he has endured, Houston doctors said there is hope he may one day not see them when he looks in the mirror.

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It will take years for Daniel to make a complete recovery.

Daniel, now 4, nearly died hours after birth.  He was abandoned in a Nairobi, Kenya garbage dump and attacked by wild dogs that damaged his face and legs.

The day before his first surgery the young boy wasn’t really sure what was going to happen.  But Larry Jones, a founder of ‘Feed the Children,’ was well aware of the events ahead.

“I’m going to cut my fingernails really close tonight so that tomorrow I won’t be biting them,” he said.

Even in the moments before surgery young Daniel was his happy-go-lucky self, but ready for his life to change.

“Daniel says very clearly. My face is broken. My lips are broken. I need them fixed. Thank you for fixing them,” said Dr. Sean Boutrous, Memorial Hermann Hospital.

“We have come to really love this child. At the same time the procedures they are going to be great they are going to help him. I can only imagine what that little body is going to go through,” said Larry Jones.

The first step was a wagon ride down the long hall to surgery.

While Dr. Sean Boutrous and his team prepared for the very complex, marathon 11-and-a-half hour procedure at the very top of the complexity scale.

Just removing the scar tissue that was hindering his face’s growth was a two hour process.  Then doctors implanted of a device to help stretch his jawbone.  Then skin from his back was moved to build a new face.

“There is always the possibility of blot clots in the blood vessels that we reattach.  Should this happen it requires a reoperation within a certain number of hours,” explained Dr. Michael Miller, University Of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

That’s why Daniel remains heavily sedated and will for at least two days.

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Daniel enjoys himself and sings before undergoing surgery.

His guardians Larry and Frances Jones have been by his side.

“I go in there and touch him when ever I can and call him my precious angel,” Jones said.  “I’m just talking to him in that way, in a positive way.”

“He is a very, very special child,” said Dr. Todd Price, Memorial Hermann Hospital.  “Even though this child was thrown away we have the opportunity to do what we are here for and restore him.”

“When you see the worth of that one child and spend quality time with that one child. Something happens. That bonding that only can take place as the saying goes a little child shall lead them,” said Jones.

It will take years for a complete recovery, but the all-important first step is finished.  There are several major surgeries in the years to come, including using rib cartilage to build Daniel an ear.

All of the surgeries are being done for free by the doctors involved and the hospital itself.

This hospital stay will be seven to 10 days, but Daniel will return in a couple of months to have the jaw device removed.  At that point his face should be even on both sides and grow normally.

“Part of it depends on what he wants.  It is the type of thing where perfect can’t be achieved,” said Dr. Miller.

If anyone can get close, it is Daniel.