Girl born without a face expected to die within hours defies the odds by reaching her ninth birthday

A miracle girl has defied the odds by reaching her ninth birthday after a rare condition meant she was born without a face.

Vitória Marchioli, from Barra de São Francisco in Brazil, has Treacher Collins Syndrome that stopped 40 of her facial bones from developing to leave her eyes, mouth and nose displaced.

Doctors doubted she would survive her first few hours of life, refused to feed her and advised her family to start making funeral arrangements.

After defying their predictions at two-days-old, she was transferred to a specialist unit where her condition was identified and a week later she was released to her family's care.

Since then she's had eight surgeries to reconstruct her eyes, nose and mouth as well as stimulate her motor functions, most recently at Shriner's Hospital in Texas, USA.

Parents Ronaldo and Jocilene, 39 and 43, are continuing to fundraise for more treatment in the hope it will give her a better quality of life.