Some children refuse to play with him because they say he’s ugly.

This is the heartbreaking situation of 8-year-old Amare Stover, who lives in Decatur, Alabama. Stover’s face is severely disfigured by a giant tumor growing from his left eye.

Amare Stover was born with NF1, a neurodegenerative disease. This terrible condition has caused Stover’s face to become distorted, making learning difficult, and has resulted in blindness in one eye.

Doctors have warned that because the tumor continues to grow, Stover will lose his vision in his remaining eye if he doesn’t undergo surgery soon.

Kandice Stover, 30, Stover’s mother, says the giant tumor on his face causes him to be constantly discriminated against and teased. Every time he goes out, people stare at him and call him a “monster.”

Some children wouldn’t play with Stover and said she was ugly. Some adults even asked if she was wearing a mask.

It is known that since birth, Stover’s left eye had been slightly swollen. Doctors discovered she had glaucoma and NF1.

Soon after, a neurologist began treatment to reduce the pressure on Stover’s eye, caused by tumors surrounding the eye socket.

In 2012, while undergoing an MRI scan to monitor the tumor’s growth, Stover suddenly stopped breathing. She had to be fitted with a permanent breathing tube because the tumors growing in her throat posed a risk of suffocation.

Despite numerous laser treatments, Stover’s left eye has now completely lost its vision; she can only see with her right eye. Sadly, his right eye is also weakening, and doctors have advised his family to prepare for the worst.

“The doctors advised me to start learning Braille to teach my son, because tumors have grown in his eye and ear canal. They said he could lose his sight and hearing because of his condition,” Kandice shared.

Because the tumors are still growing, Stover will lose his vision in his remaining eye if he doesn’t have surgery soon.

The chemotherapy Stover has been taking for the past five years to shrink the tumors hasn’t worked. Plastic surgeons are now considering removing some of the tumors surrounding Stover’s eye to save his vision.

Stover’s family is in dire straits. Kandice has been raising him alone since he was four months old. She had to sell her house and move in with friends when Stover needed surgery to have a breathing tube inserted.

Doctors had to put a permanent breathing tube on him because tumors growing in his throat put him at risk of suffocation.

There were times when Kandice needed to take her son to the hospital five times a month, and without a car, she had to beg passersby for rides and use free public buses.

Finding a job also became extremely difficult for her because chemotherapy had weakened Stover too much to attend school, requiring her to be constantly by his side.

Despite his serious condition, the boy remains optimistic and cheerful.

Kanddice is currently fundraising to cover Stover’s treatment costs and the family’s basic needs.