Who's on top now?

Fourteen-year-old Carlos Vella can hardly sit still in his grandparents' living room. His spiky, thick, dark hair with blond highlights has been carefully groomed.

His doting grandparents, John and Antoinette Sghendo, look on at their grandson, also finding it difficult to contain their excitement. Carlos rushes to get his ECDL report card to show off that he's now passed all the modules, gaining an impressive 91 per cent in the final exam. "You see, I told you I'd do it!" he enthuses.

Next week, Carlos will celebrate his lucky birthday, and lucky it really is. This lively, spirited boy is a far cry from the Carlos of last year who had to drop out from school for medical treatment and who had suffered nasty bullying throughout his school-life.

Carlos was born with a very rare condition: the skin on his temple was overly delicate and fine, similar to the skin on a newborn baby's head. Hair could not grow on that part of his head. As his head grew, this already sensitive skin stretched and became thinner and even more fragile. Because it was so brittle, the scalp very often bled.

As a baby, he had to be kept in a cot lined with cushions as well as having to wear a special hood in order to protect his head. Carlos also had to be kept away from his brother as rough play could lead to a head injury, potentially even brain damage.

The condition and his appearance dominated Carlos's existence; coupled with the bullying, his confidence was shattered and he could not lead a normal life. Indeed, he describes his past self as that person with a "big patch in the middle of his head".

"Three-quarters of the school used to bully me," Carlos recalls. "I was so concerned with my appearance, I used to grow my hair very long, so it was almost curly in order to try to cover the bald patch."

He gives an endless list of the names he used to be called, bitterly remembering one particular bully who used to delight in coming up with cruel names such as "bird's nest", "beyblade", and teasing taunts such as "when are the birds going to nest?" or "it looks like somebody shot you through the head with a bazooka".

He explains how when he used to be bullied, he used to picture a rev-counter. When it reached the red part, he would literally explode and attack his tormentor. "I just felt so annoyed," says Carlos.

With tears in her eyes, Carlos's grandmother remembers how her grandson used to look in the mirror and ask, "Gran, why do I look like this?"

Carlos had stopped a lot of physical activity and even stopped going to the football club he used to enjoy frequenting so much. Now everything has changed and Carlos is a goalkeeper in his school league.

The boy is evidently a completely new person and delights in being able to join friends when they go to Paceville and attracting attention from girls.

Carlos lives with his grandparents. They officially adopted him five years ago. Both his parents had abandoned Carlos and his brother and before moving to live with the grandparents, they lived in an institute.

From the minute he was born, Carlos had been taken to various doctors and none could find an adequate cure for him. He was given wigs and treatments in vain.

Although his grandparents did their utmost to find someone who could cure their grandson, it looked like there was no cure in sight.

As a last resort, his grandmother wrote a letter to the producers of Arani Issa. Even though the producers themselves were on the verge of giving up, another letter sent by Carlos's grandmother convinced presenter Joe Chetcuti to try again. They finally found a doctor who had a cure.

The procedure involved expanding the healthy part of Carlos's scalp in order to stretch it across the maimed part, and linking it to the healthy skin on the other side of his head. He had to go through a gruelling set of three operations but they were all a success and Carlos now has a full head of hair.

Carlos has an immensely positive outlook towards life, constantly cracking jokes. "Now I have the advantage over other men since I'll never go bald," he laughs.

He also has a great enthusiasm to study for his 'O' levels because now he won't associate school with a place where he is bullied and teased.

Carlos's story will be featured on Arani Issa on One TV on Thursday at 8.30 p.m. The second part of the story will be aired the following week.