HOUSTON—A baby born half a world away with half a face came to Houston for a life-changing miracle.

Last night, 11 News brought you the story of Uche Baker, the nurse’s aid from Nigeria who has dedicated her second chance at life to helping those in her hometown of Obosi, Nigeria.

The child in Houston, Ebele Ifekandu, is just one of those Baker has befriended in the name of giving back.

Ebele’s journey to Houston began almost four years ago in Nigeria when she was welcomed into the world by her mother, Chiwe Ifekandu.

But the joyous moment was cut short when Ifekandu and her doctors realized something wasn’t right with baby Ebele.

She was born with massive facial deformities.

Ifekandu’s husband left them soon after, and many villagers in Obosi thought of the family as cursed.

Through a translator, Ifekandu told 11 News there were still those who would offer her words of encouragement and help her, but the others would laugh and curse her and her baby.

That’s when someone told her about Baker, the cancer survivor from America who feeds and clothes the children of Obosi every year.

Ifekandu met with Baker’s mother and gave her a picture of Ebele.

That picture soon made it back to Baker’s hands.

“I could not sleep that night I got the picture. I cried all night,” Baker said.

Through her tears, Baker said she held the photo and prayed for Ebele and her mother.

The very next day, Baker’s prayers were answered through a doctor at West Houston Surgicare, where she works.

The doctor told Baker about plastic surgeon Sean Boutros.

Two years and rolls of red tape later, Ebele, clad in a pink princess dress and light-up Dora shoes, walked into Dr. Boutros’ office.

Boutros raised the money for Ebele’s surgery, and he refused payment for his role.

“It may not be measured in dollars and cents, but it’s measured by the fact that I have a village praying for me somewhere in Nigeria, people that I’ll never meet,” Boutros said. “So, I don’t get paid for this, but I get reimbursed more than I can tell you.”

A church in Nigeria took the Ifekandu family under its wing until they were able to fly to Houston for surgery.

Baker accompanied them, and it was then she realized that Ebele’s family did not own a mirror.

The first time Ebele ever saw her own reflection was in an airplane restroom.

“She could not believe it. She was like shocked. Why am I looking different from the other kids? I say, ‘You don’t look different, child. That’s the way God made you to come. God wants to use you as a miracle and to tell people that nothing is impossible,’” Baker said.

But Ebele’s surgery wasn’t without risks.

“I can’t promise you that there won’t be complications or infections or major problems,” Boutros told the family. ”But I promise I’ll do exactly for her what I’d do for my own daughter.” 

The surgery’s biggest risk, of course, was death. 

Then there was the very real possibility of blindness in Ebele’s only eye that sees.

The surgery took a team of nurses working in shifts and three surgeons.  And for Ebele’s mom, it took divine guidance.

In the operating room, doctors had to remove a portion of Ebele’s brain, which was dead.  They moved the bones of the face together and rebuilt her nose and eyelids – all the while taking care not to let contamination get into her brain. 

Doctors said that could lead to a deadly infection.

Sixteen painstaking hours after it began, Ebele’s surgery was complete, and her mother’s prayers were answered.

Baker said the moment Ifekandu saw her daughter, she said, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus is good! God is good!”

“She could not believe it,” Baker said.

Doctors had given her daughter a face and hope, where none existed before.

Now, little Ebele Ifekandu, whose name means “God is merciful,” is starting anew.