Miracle Baby Born Without a Nose Dies at Age 2—His Final Words Leave Everyone in Tears

Tragedy struck as a miracle baby born without a nose passed away at age two.

Eli Thompson came into this world defying the odds. The child, who was born without a nose, astounded medical professionals and won the hearts of people all over the world with his personality and charm. He was born at South Baldwin Hospital in Foley, Alabama, with a condition called arhinia, which meant he had no nasal passages or sinus cavities. The condition is incredibly rare, affecting only 1 in 197 million children, and has been recorded just 30 times in medical history.

At the tender age of five days, Eli received a tracheotomy. For the first few months of his life, he lived in the spotlight. When he was six months old, his parents separated, but through a Facebook page called Eli’s Story, thousands of people from all over the world continued to follow his journey.

Jeremy Finch, Eli’s dad, described his son as very smart and always smiling.

“He touched a lot of people’s lives,” Finch told AL.com with tears in his voice. “A lot of people cared about him.”

Eli learned to communicate by using baby sign language and started speech therapy. At the time of his birth in 2015, many had dubbed Eli the miracle baby, and his supporters received regular updates on his development via social media. Just like any other kid, Eli’s favorite food was cookies. His favorite sign was “cookie.”

“The very first thing he would ask for every morning was a cookie,” his father said, adding that Eli had recently received the Cookie Monster award from his daycare.

From the very beginning of his life, Eli inspired people. When he was only seven months old, he met another child with the exact same condition: Tessa Evans of Ireland, who was two and a half years old at the time.

“To get to introduce Tessa to Eli was like a dream come true, and it meant the world to us to sit and talk with his family,” Tessa’s mother, Gráinne Evans, wrote after the meeting. “Tessa was totally taken with Eli and hugged him and stroked his head. Watching Eli gaze up at her was too precious for words.”

Tragically, Eli passed away just two months after celebrating his second birthday.

“We lost our little buddy last night,” Jeremy Finch posted on Facebook in 2017. “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.”

The announcement of Eli’s death came as a shock to many of his supporters.

“He finished his race a lot earlier than we would have liked, but it was God’s time to bring him back home,” Finch posted.

May God bring peace and comfort to the hearts of Eli’s family and his supporters.