Ja’bari made the news the moment he was born. His name means “fighter” and that’s what he truly is.

It was on January 1, 2019, when this little baby was born in San Antonio, Texas. When they laid their eyes on him for the first time, they immediately noticed the difference – he was born with no skin on some parts of his body. Yes, he did have skin on his head, face, and some parts of his legs, but it was also missing in other parts of his body like his back, chest, arms, and shoulders.

“It was just red. Bright red,” his mom, Prescilla Maldonado recalled when she first saw her baby. She added, “You could see all his veins (through it), everything was exposed.” After 11 months, baby Ja’bari is finally home!

Ja’bari had aplasia cutis. This means that he ‘lacks skin.’ Even up to this day, the doctors are still not sure what causes the condition.

At that time, Ja’bari needed a breathing tube and had to be in pain medications to survive. His eyes were fused shut and his chin was joined to his chest. Despite his condition, his mom didn’t give up on him. She decided to take him to another facility where he could get the help and proper medical intervention that he needed.

The Texas Children’s Hospital was the only place in Houston where he could be treated. This is where the cells from a biopsy of his skin that was taken from his little ears were grown in the lab. The experts were able to develop 12 trays of skin and they were grafted onto his body. This was enough to cover his neck, chest, back, and his right arm.

According to Lindsay Fox, a spokesperson for Texas Children’s Hospital, there was a team of multidisciplinary experts who worked hand in hand to help the infant survive. The team included plastic surgeons, ophthalmologists, otolaryngologists, neonatologists, critical care doctors, as well as dermatologists. They worked together in order to provide proper medical care for the baby’s complex needs.

Despite his condition, the baby made it back home to be with his mom. It was in October that Prescilla was able to hold her baby and gave him kisses for the very first time. During her interview with TODAY, she said, “It feels like having a baby all over again — actually being able to take the baby home. It’s like a dream come true, finally.”

Thankfully, the surgery was a success. The grafts were able to heal quickly and Ja’bari is now 100% covered with skin!

In a separate interview with ABC 13, the mother explained, “It was heartwarming because he was crying when he was laying down, but as soon as I picked him up and had the skin-to-skin contact and put him on my chest, he just stopped crying.”

Ja’bari did have a difficult fight, but he still has a long road ahead to tackle. He had undergone two surgeries in order to open his eyelets, but they still fuse shut multiple times. He will also need more surgeries to separate his arms, right hand, his right foot, and also his neck.

For now, he survives through a gastronomy tube in his stomach. Despite it all, his mom, together with his two siblings, is just happy to have Ja’bari back.