A Chinese baby born with a rare facial deformity that makes it appear like he is wearing a mask is being prepared for corrective surgery.
Zhao Huikang suffers from a severe form of macrostomia, a condition that leaves sufferers with an abnormally wide mouth, the Shanghai Daily reports.
Photographs of Zhao show his mouth appearing to stretch up to the middle of his face.
Zhao was born to a poor family in a rural area of the Hunan province. Family members encouraged his mother Yi Zilian to abandon him but she refused.
"The only thing I could do is to give him more love and more care and try our best to make him live a normal life," she said.
Zhao's deformity appeared so severe doctors were reluctant to let his mother see him after he was born, according to reports.
A Shanghai hospital has decided to provide free surgery to the boy to correct the deformity but Dr Ren Tianping said he may need many procedures over time as he grows up.
"Since he can't chew, the boy also suffers malnutrition," Dr Tianping said.
"Our surgery will ensure he can eat."
The procedures will repair the facial bones, muscles and surface tissue but doctors are still unsure whether the surgery will be successful.
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