Treatment helps boy to smile

Daniel's face was stretched by 25mm in two months

The face of a seven-year-old boy has been transformed with the help of a revolutionary treatment.

Daniel Holden, from Tamworth, Staffs, was disfigured from birth with the facial disorder, Crouzon's syndrome.

But doctors at the Diana, Princess of Wales Children's Hospital in Birmingham used a new type of clamp to stretch his skin and bones which reshaped his face.

The youngster is now learning to smile for the first time.

Special halo

The treatment pulled the skin on Daniel's face by a millimetre a day, over two months, allowing his bones underneath to develop into a new shape.

Daniel is learning to smile

The clamp was attached using a special halo placed over Daniel's head.

Four wires were inserted into the bones in his face, just around his nose, all connected to a central screw.

Twice a day his mother, Paula Holden, turned the screw, tightening the wires.

In all Daniel's face was shifted 25mm over the eight-week period.

Ms Holden, an auxiliary nurse, said the treatment had its difficulties.

"The worst part was eating.

"He couldn't eat what he wanted to eat, he had to be told what to eat.

"We had to go back to spoon feeding him, he had to have everything mashed up at one stage.

"He had to suck on chips and have everything else through straws.

"But he managed, Daniel won't starve."

Doctors said the successful procedure could now transform the treatment of similar disorders.