“Now there was some working structure on the face, however, the patient had no nose,” recalled Dr Mohan, leaving it to Ashwaq to create a prosthetic nose.

However, this is where the brave victim, who was willing to endure pain to get a real nose, put her foot down. “Hiba was adamant that she would not hear of a false nose that came off like her prosthetic eye at night. She told me that since I had been able to restore her cheeks and other features, I had to think of someway for giving her a permanent nose. The skin on her face and arms had burnt off and I had no idea how I would do it. But her faith in me, set me thinking. After much thought and some reading, I had a eureka moment,” recalled Dr Mohan. “First, a tissue expander was placed underneath the skin of her forearm to create more volume moment when the plan crystallised in my mind.”

In the next surgery, the expanded skin was lifted up and shaped it like a nose with help of wires. Cartilage and bone from her rib was used to provide create the internal skeleton of the nose. Dr Shahram Sajjadi, plastic surgeon at the AACSH, was a key collaborator in this surgery. Once that was done, the nose- shaped natural structure was allowed to rest and mature and heal on the forearm where it looked like the forearm had sprouted a nose. It even had the design of nostrils and columella incorporated into it, recalls the doctor.