An anonymous Russian benefactor has paid $60,000 in medical fees so that a Florida girl with a ‘Batman mask’ birth mark can complete pioneering treatment to cure her condition.
‘Santa must be Russian,’ said the child’s mother Carol Fenner, 36, after being told about the ‘amazing generosity’ over Christmas.
Her baby Luna, nine months old, has been receiving treatment in the Russian city of Krasnodar which is gradually removing her giant birthmark using specialist photodynamic therapy
The girl and her mother are currently in Florida for a vacation break and due to return to Russia early next year.
But Carol and husband Thiago Tavares, 32, were short of around $60,000 of the $140,000 fees despite her amazing efforts to raise money through GoFundMe.
An anonymous Russian benefactor has paid $60,000 in medical fees for nine-month-old Luna’s treatment to remove the ‘batman mask’ skin blemish she was born with , DailyMail.com can reveal
Carol Fenner, 36, holds her child Luna after surgeon Dr Pavel Popov removed a bandage on her forehead. The first part of her face to be treated by photodynamic therapy is her forehead and the area is cleared of the invasive nevus mark
The lack of money could have jeopardized the treatment.
The wealthy Russian man has already paid the outstanding amount to the clinic, enabling her therapy to continue in January.
He insisted on remaining anonymous but sources said he was touched by Luna’s story and wanted to help.
The clinic called Carol over the holiday to tell her the amazing news. The money was paid over on Christmas Day.
‘I think it’s a miracle. We are so happy,’ said Carol. ‘Thiago, my husband, was crying with joy.
‘Now I know Santa Claus is Russian.’
Carol admits at first she was ‘shocked’ and feared the payment was not real.
‘The clinic texted me back after a phone call saying ”Carol it was not a joke.”’
Thanking other backers too, she said: ‘This was the most magical Christmas we have ever had.
‘Thank you, what you have done for us is unforgettable.’
Deputy chief doctor of the Krasnodar clinic, Andrey Aleksutkin, said the benefactor had insisted on remaining anonymous.
‘We have received a $60,000 transfer from a Russian benefactor,’ he said. ‘According to agreement we cannot reveal his name.
‘But I can say we have received the transfer to our account on 25 December and our accountant has confirmed it.’
Carol said she already sees positive results after two treatment sessions, saying: ‘There is no nevus at all where he did it. Now I’m 100 percent confident and sure it will work. I’m in the right place and right country, (and with the) right doctor’
The treatment is spearheaded by Russian surgeon Dr Pavel Popov (pictured with Luna) at his clinic in Krasnodar, Russia
Before the surgery, Luna’s Batman mark extended onto the right side of her forehead. After the pioneering procedure, Luna’s birthmark is gone from her upper forehead – only pink skin and small crusts are still there but will soon fall off
Dailymail.com was present in Russia earlier this month when bandages were removed in December showing the Batman mark had vanished from luna’s forehead.
Luna is seen in new pictures playing at her Florida home on her Christmas and New Year trip home to see her father.
The red marks on her forehead will disappear and there will be no scars, says pioneering surgeon Dr Pavel Popov.
Her forehead was the first part of her face to be treated by photodynamic therapy.
‘This result on Luna’s forehead is amazing and I am now 100 per cent sure I was right to fly to Russia with my girl,’ Carol told DailyMail.com
She said it vindicated her decision to fly half way round the world to Russia to treat her daughter.
The full treatment will take one and a half years.
‘I think it’s a miracle. We are so happy,’ Carol said of the anonymous donation. ‘Thiago, my husband, was crying with joy’
Dr Popov said: ‘We expected to have good results. But what we’ve seen exceeds our expectations’
Dr Popov said: ‘We expected to have good results. But what we’ve seen exceeds our expectations.’
Before she left the US a cruel woman in a Florida church branded her loveable daughter a ‘monster’.
It was this insult that prompted Carol to put her daughter through surgery, setting her on a path that took her to Russia for the first time.
Carol told us after seeing her daughter’s clear forehead: ‘When I decided to come few months ago everybody called me crazy.
‘But something in my head was telling me I should try. People say mothers feel something, I feel it’s true.
‘I knew I needed to try and come,’ she added, ‘I don’t know why, I just decided to give it a try.’
Dr Popov convinced her online that he could cure her child without putting her through debilitating agony.
‘I wanted to avoid the aggressive surgeries that I was seeing with the other doctors in the US,’ she said.