Upstate's Sherard Tatum III, MD is quoted in a story today by ABC News about a 16-year-old from Charlotte, N.C. who was born without eyes or nose. The condition is "exceedingly rare," Tatum told the news network. He is director of facial and reconstructive surgery at Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital who also volunteers with Face to Face, a program of the American Academy of Facial, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Cassidy Hooper has undergone a series of operations since the age of 11, and she is scheduled to undergo three more so that surgeons can fashion a nose from grafted bone and cartilage, ABC News reports.

Tatum is not Cassidy's doctor, but he explained the complexity of the task her surgeons have. "The soft tissues that make up the inside and the outside skin and mucus membrane don't have a lot of strength to stick out of the face like the nose does," he told ABC News, explaining the step-by-step approach surgeons must take. He said these types of surgeries are typically successful, especially when done in children.

Read the ABC News story about Cassidy Hooper.

Learn about Sherard Tatum III, MD.