PLASTIC
SURGERY: CHANGING A CHILD’S LIFE
Repairing damage caused by birth defects, accidents, tumours
and disease
London, UK – 03
May, 2005
Norman
Waterhouse (www.norman-waterhouse.com), a leading London-based consultant
plastic surgeon and one of the founders
of Facing the World (www.facingtheworld.net), a charity that
benefits children with facial deformities, today addressed the
impact
of reconstructive plastic
surgery on children.
Norman Waterhouse, who is Head of the Craniofacial Unit at
Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, will be operating on a child
from Laos on the
14th
of May: 15-year-old Dokchanh Sivilay, who suffers from encephelocele,
a rare congenital neural tube defect that results in a portion
of the brain protruding through a hole in the skull.
According to Norman Waterhouse;
“ Children living with physical deformities often face
strong prejudice, and ridicule. They suffer from low self-esteem
and even depression,
especially in countries where medical assistance is hard to find. Plastic surgery
can
help them rebuild their lives, and free them from the psychological
hardships brought on by their condition.”
Globally, 1 in 800 children are born with some kind of facial disfigurement,
and 1 in 20,000 are born with significant deformities. Many of these malformations
are not just aesthetically challenging, they can also be deadly: 11-year-old
Eyerusalem from Ethiopia had a vascular malformation arround her nose and
throat, which would eventually have prevented her from breathing, had she
not received life-saving surgery in London.
According to Sarah Driver-Jowitt, executive co-ordinator of Facing the
World;
“
A child’s life can be blighted by facial deformity. Our patients are
a testimony to the innovations of modern medicine and the commitment
of eminent surgeons such as Norman Waterhouse to this cause.”
Past patients of Facing the World have included
Hadisa, from Afghanistan, who faced stoning to death in her village
because of her condition, and
Kalyani, a child from India whose father distributed over 400 handwritten
letters, begging medical help for his daughter. Others include
7-year-old Ali Hussein, who was shot and lost an eye, his nose,
and part of his jaw,
and most recently, Pan Ainoy, known in her village as the ‘Elephant
Girl’. (Before-and-after photos are available).
Norman Waterhouse, former President of the British Association of Aesthetic
Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), is among a number of experienced practitioners
whose practice combines cosmetic as well as reconstructive surgery. Another
surgeon who will be operating on Dokchanh is Martin Kelly, consultant plastic
surgeon and co-Founder of Facing the World.
ENDS
Norman Waterhouse, FRCS (Plast), is Head of the Craniofacial Unit
at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. He lectures nationally and internationally
and teaches techniques of modern cosmetic surgery. His private practice
is based at 55 Harley Street, London.
For more information, please
contact Steve Bustin at sbustin@wavelengthgroup.com or call 020
7549 2863
Donations to Facing the World are gratefully accepted. Please contact 020
7736 3327
