Boy born two faces defies odds to celebrate his 13th birthday

                                                 
A boy who was born with an extremely rare condition that gave him “two faces” has defied the odds to celebrate his 13th birthday. Tres Johnson has craniofacial duplication and doctors told his parents, Brandy and Joshua, that their son was not likely to survive for long. Surprisingly, he has surpassed expectations to live longer than expected.

Tres, from Missouri, USA, was born with a large cleft, two separate nostrils, an abnormally shaped head, cognitive delays and suffers seizures. The condition is so rare that there are only 36 people in the world who have it. It is caused by the Sonic the Hedgehog (SHH) gene which alters the formation of the skull. Tres received more than 14 different diagnoses before doctors realized he had craniofacial duplication, also known as Diprosopus - the Greek word for "two faces".

He has undergone multiple operations to reshape his skull and close his cleft, relieve pressure on his brain to treat his seizures, which have reduced from 400 to 40-a-day since starting cannabis oil treatment.  Speaking of what life has been like for since Tres came into their world, Brandy, 35, who is Tres' mother and also his full-time carer, said her first look at her son was difficult