Girl, 13, with severe facial deformity to have life-changing surgery after online contributions

-Adapted from Daily Mail

Orphaned girl, 13, with a severe facial deformity will have life-changing surgery thanks to generosity of online Tumblr community after it raised $10,000 for the operation in just one week

A teenage orphan with a severe facial deformity is to receive life-changing surgery thanks to a fundraising campaign boosted by Tumblr.

The Ghana orphanage caring for 13-year-old Esinam needed to raise $10,000 to pay for surgery, but after nine months only $130 had been donated.

But when a Tumblr user known as Agent Blye read about her plight, she turned to the web community and helped raise more than $10,000 in less than a week.

The Tumblr user that sparked the online giving had visited the New Seed International orphanage in Ghana three years ago.

When she spotted Esinam's GoFundMe page last week she encouraged donors to help raise the cash needed for the teenager's surgery.

Using the site's 'signal-boost' culture, the kind-hearted blogger was able to boost the orphan's surgery fund by encouraging more than 450 people to donate.

The deformity suffered by the 13-year-old has prevented her from attending school, according to the Daily Dot.

No one is sure what is causing the mass growing on her face because Esinam's parents died when she was younger.

When the grandmother who helped raise her died from a stroke, the teenager went to live at the non-profit New Seed Foundation.

After the rush of donations a spokesman for the foundation posted an update on the teenager.

'On behalf of Esinam, I wish to show our deepest appreciation and gladness to all those contributed towards the surgical operation of Esinam, your donation and contributions will be put into the very purpose you gave,' spokesman Livinus Acquah-Jackson said.

He added that an elderly woman who has been helping care for her was also relieved to hear that the teenager would finally get her surgery and achieve her dream of returning to school.