A baby in the Philippines was born without a skull!

Pagayaw Malikol was born on January 18th, 2004. He only had a thin layer of skin separating his brain from the outside.  He had to remain attached to his mother’s umbilical cord even after birth. 

Sadly, due to his family not being able to afford a life-saving operation, Pagayaw only lived for four days. His brain had become severely infected through exposure. 

However, people have survived worse brain anomalies. One man, named Phineas Gage, was stabbed in the brain by a piece of debris from a small explosion. The metal rod had shot through his eye, piercing his brain. 

Despite losing roughly a quarter of his grey matter, he survived for 13 years after the accident. He suffered from epilepsy and his personality seemed drastically changed, but nevertheless it was extraordinary that he survived at all. 

(Source)