A little boy who was born with an incredibly rare condition meaning he had no nose has sadly passed away
Eli Thompson was born with a condition so rare, it only affects 1 in every 197 million births.
Eli, from Alabama in the US, was born with Arhinia - a condition which means a person has no nose or nasal cavities.
The little boy with no nose captured the hearts of the nation with his wonderful smile and unique story, and many were saddened to hear the news that he'd passed away.
Eli's dad, Jeremy Finch, spoke to Al.com, an Alabama news site, about his son's passing: "He was very, very bright and happy, always smiling and giving everybody fist bumps."
Jeremy went onto add that Eli, who had just celebrated his second birthday on 4 March, was a popular little guy: "He touched a lot of people's lives. A lot of people cared about him."
The little boy was born prematurely and with Arhinia, of which there have only been 47 reported cases in modern medicine, which meant that he had to have a tracheotomy at five-days-old - which is an incision made to the windpipe.
Jeremy, who has served in the American military, wrote on his Facebook page: "We lost our little buddy last night. 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!
"He finished his race a lot earlier than we would have liked, but it was God's time to bring him back home. I'll forever look forward to seeing him at the gates of Heaven waiting on me to give me another one of his famous fist bumps! I love you little man."
The grieving dad set up a Go Fund Me page to help cover the cost of his son's funeral. He wrote: "I'm a proud man and I don't like to ask for anything, but my baby's funeral expenses are more than we can bear at this time.
"If we raise more than we need, the excess will be given to charity in his name. Thank you all for your outpouring of love and support during these tragic times. My family appreciates your thoughts and prayers. God bless you all."
They have now surpassed their $12,000 goal and currently have just over $18,000 in generous donations, and they have promised to donate the extra to children's charities.
Have you or a loved one ever had to come to terms with the loss of a baby or child? If you're willing to share your story with us, please email us, or get in touch on Facebook and Twitter.
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