Boy has op so he can smile

Jake (right) with his brother Aiden before the operation

An eight-year-old boy has been given an operation to allow him to smile.

Jake Swift has a condition called Moebius Syndrome, which causes paralysis of the face.

In a pioneering operation, Jake had a muscle from his leg implanted in his face.

He will have a second operation on the other side of his face early next year.

Jake's mother Caroline told BBC News Online he was born with the condition. But doctors were unable to tell Caroline and her husband Adam why their son's face was paralysed until he was five.

It gives him a better chance in life

Caroline Swift

"He couldn't frown, he couldn't move his eyebrows, and he couldn't close his eyes properly when he slept. He also couldn't move his top lip. It made him dribble.

"Jake had been born without his facial nerves on both sides"

He was also born with a club foot, a condition which is related to Moebius Syndrome.

Thigh muscle

He has already had five operations on his foot, and his leg is now in a splint.

Jake had the operation on his face in June at Birmingham Children's Hospital, with a team including Canadian specialist Ronald Zuker, professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children, who is a specialist in this procedure.

Surgeons took a small piece of an inner thigh muscle, which has its own nerve and blood supply and implanted it in his face.

Jake now finds it easier to eat

An incision was made along the front of the ear in the face, across a part of the upper neck.

The muscle was placed in the face and its blood vessels and nerves are connected to the blood vessels and nerves in the face, using microsurgery.

"It was about a week after that we saw an improvement," said Mrs Swift.

"He had been able to smile before, in his own way. But now, instead of drooping down, his mouth now goes up."

Mrs Swift said she found out about the facial paralysis operation by looking on the Internet and finding out as much as she could about the condition.

The family was supported by the Birth Defects Foundation, which paid for the £10,000 operation and is hoping to raise money for the second.

'Better chance'

Mrs Swift said she and her husband, from Chadderton in Derby, who have two other children, Aiden, 5, and Holly, 18 months, believed Jake needed the operation.

"He was growing up with no facial expression. We couldn't tell if he was happy or sad unless he screamed or shouted.

"We thought he should have the operation while he was young. It gives him a better chance in life."

She added: "He wanted it too. He was being bullied at school."

A spokesman for Birmingham Children's Hospital said: "We can confirm that Jake had his first very successful operation for facial reanimation.

"This was performed by Mr Hiroshi Nishikawa, Plastics and Reconstructive Surgeon from Birmingham Children's Hospital and Canadian surgeon Ronald Zuker, professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Toronto's Hospital for Sick children."

Donations can be made to the "Jake Smile Fund" by making cheques payable to the Birth Defects Foundation and sending them to BDF Centre, Hemlock Way, Cannock, Staffs, WS11 7GF, or by phoning 08700 777 768.