A five-year-old Florida boy who has had multiple surgeries was given a custom-made doll that has the same surgical scars he does.
Payton Haynes, from Sebring, has undergone two cranial surgeries due to two separate neurological conditions that have left him with scars on his skull and on his abdomen.
His mother, Kristin Hayes, told Good Morning America she wanted her son to have a look-alike doll because there was no toy on the market that looked similar to him.
After hearing this, students at nearby Cracker Trail Elementary School contacted a nonprofit, which was able to make a doll that has the same scars in the same places as Payton.
Payton Hayes, five, from Sebring, Florida, was diagnosed when he was born with craniosynostosis, a birth defect in which the skull's bones fuse before the brain is fully formed. Pictured: Payton being gifted his custom-made doll
He had his first surgery when he was three months old. Last year, Payton had a second surgery after he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition where there is a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. Pictured: Payton with his custom-made doll
When Payton was born, he was diagnosed with craniosynostosis, a birth defect in which the skull's bones fuse before the brain is fully formed.
Surgery is needed to correct the head's shape so the brain can grow properly.
His mother told Good Morning America that he underwent his first surgery when he was just three months old.
More recently, last year, he was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition where there is a buildup of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.
In December, he underwent a nine-hour surgery so doctors could insert a shunt.
The operations have left with a five-inch-long scar on the back of his skull and a scar on his abdomen, reported Good Morning America.
The idea for a look-alike doll came after second grade students at Cracker Trail Elementary School, and her class raised through $500 in a fundraiser.
'In the past we've donated to The Humane Society, the children's museum, so we took a class vote on what to do this year,' lead teacher Liz Prendergast told DailyMail.com.
The class decided to donate to a child with a serious illness.
