Don’t call me Dumbo ears! Boy discovers op online to beat bullies
A NiNe-year-old boy nicknamed ‘Dumbo’ by school bullies has had cosmetic surgery on his sticking out ears after researching the operation himself on the internet.
elwood Sanderson-Sheard begged his parents to let him undergo the ear-pinning procedure after watching YouTube videos of people talking about the surgery and how it had changed their lives.
But for a year before having the operation, elwood kept the bullying a secret from his parents, despite being physically sick every morning with anxiety about going to school.
He also suffered regular panic attacks, until his mother Sarah Sanderson, 37, found out that bullying about his ears was to blame.
Mrs Sanderson and elwood’s father Andy Sheard, 45, a welder, were shocked when their son told them he wanted to go under the knife.
The ear-pinning surgery usually costs about £3,000 privately, but due to the psychological harm elwood was suffering the procedure was done on the NHS in May at Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
Doctors discovered elwood’s ears stuck out because cartilage had not formed properly, so they remoulded it, inserted splints and cut and pulled back the skin behind his ears.
elwood had to wear a headband for three months as his ears healed. Mrs Sanderson of Birstall, West Yorkshire, said: ‘Children were bullying him about his ears, calling him “Dumbo” and saying they were ugly.
‘After we discovered the bullying, elwood looked up the procedure on YouTube. As soon as he came out of hospital we noticed the change. He is so much more confident.
‘i am just so proud of him. He was adult enough to make the right deci- sion and he never once complained about the pain.’
The parents have praised Windmill Church of england Primary School for supporting elwood and dealing with the bullying issues.
ear correction surgery is usually carried out on children over five and young teenagers, although adults can have it too. About 1,200 people undergo the operation each year in the UK.