A baby had his head put back together ‘like a JIGSAW’ to correct a rare defect.
Little Hayden Golding suffered with scaphocephaly craniosynostosis, a condition where his skull plates fused together too early, which can affect brain development.
The condition gave Hayden an abnormal shaped head, first spotted by a GP at a routine check-up for his mum, Lucy, 27.
Hayden’s condition required surgery where his skull was broken into pieces and put back together ‘like a jigsaw’.
Now the two-year-old is making a full recovery at his home in Essex and doctors do not expect there to be any long-term side effects.
Lucy, an office manager, said: “At first when the GP said there might be something wrong with his head I was a bit offended – everyone thinks their baby is perfect.
“But we got referred to a specialist and we were told about the surgery.
“It wasn’t essential that he had the surgery, but the doctors couldn’t tell my husband Mark and I the long term effects of living with the condition so we decided to go ahead.
“It’s a major operation and it was very scary, but it’s looking like Hayden will not have any lasting side effects as a result of the condition.”
Hayden was first diagnosed with craniosynostosis when he was seven months old.
His skull was fused in the middle which left untreated can cause pressure points on the brain as it grows.
Lucy said: “When we look back at pictures of Hayden now we can clearly see his head isn’t the right shape, but at the time it came as a total shock.
“If you told an adult they needed the same surgery they would be horrified, so we are lucky in a way that Hayden was too young to understand.
“At first we went private as I receive medical insurance through my company, and although they paid for all the consultations, they wouldn’t pay for the surgery.
“We already had a date set for the operation so it was a mad scramble to get the money together – the operation costs £20,000.
“We did not go through the NHS as the wait was too long. It’s a lot of money but worth it.”
Hayden’s surgery was performed at Great Ormond Street Hospital in December 2013.
It involved his skull being broken into pieces and fused back together in a process his mum described as “like a jigsaw”.
Lucy said: “The surgeon does the same operation three or four times a week so we had total confidence in him.
“Hayden’s has a big scar across his head but other than he looks normal now.
“He has a few soft spots in his head and sometimes you can see his brain membrane pulsating.
“The doctors have said the surgery went really well and he was discharged after three months.
“I got a lot of support from other parents who have been through the same and now I would think about telling someone if I think their baby’s head looks unusual. I think it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
