Docs break baby’s skull to put it back together again ‘HUMPTY DUMPTY’ TODDLER FIGHTS BACK FROM BRAIN OP
A MUM nicknamed her son Humpty Dumpty after he had his skull cracked open and rebuilt to treat a rare condition.
Ronnie Jebbitt, now 18 months, was born with craniosynostosis – a birth defect where the skull fuses together before the brain has finished growing. If it is left untreated it can cause developmental issues.
Ronnie underwent a five-hour operation to separate his skull before it was pieced back together last
July.
The little lad recovered within months and has now started nursery. Mum Harriet Alcock, 26, said: “Ronnie’s head was cracked open and pieced back together again – just like Humpty Dumpty in the nursery rhyme. “I’d never heard of this condition before he was diagnosed. It really was the worst week of my life.
“But Ronnie is a little trooper and he has taken everything in his stride. “He has bounced back really quickly from his surgery and is just like any other little boy his age.” Harriet, from Poole, Dorset, was overjoyed to learn she was expecting her first child in May 2017. All was well until Ronnie got stuck in Harriet’s pelvis during labour and she was rushed for an emergency C-section at Worthing Hospital on February 26, 2018. Weighing 8lb 5oz, the only sign of the trouble ahead was that his head was an unusual shape. In August that year, Ronnie’s dad Dan, 33, a carpenter, noticed him having a seizure in his cot.
Ronnie suffered seven more seizures before he was diagnosed with craniosynostosis on his first birthday.
Harriet, who works as a marketing account manager, said: “He came out fine – apart from having a funny-shaped head. Lots of babies do, so I didn’t think anything of it.
“But when he started having the seizures, each time it was slightly different and I knew it was something more serious.”
Craniosynostosis is a birth defect where one or more of the fibrous joints between the bones in a baby’s skull fuses together before the brain is properly formed.
As the brain grows it causes a misshapen appearance to the head and can even cause developmental issues further down the line. Ronnie was scheduled for surgery. It involved separating the pieces of his skull before replacing them again.
Harriet said: “The specialist took one look at him and knew exactly what he had.
“It was such a relief to have a diagnosis, but the thought of Ronnie going through that surgery was horrific.” Harriet now wonders whether the difficult delivery was to blame for his problems.
She told us: “In hindsight, and speaking with other parents who have children with the same condition, the difficult delivery may have caused the problems with his skull but there is no definite way of knowing. “Everything should be done now. He may need a second surgery, but for now everything seems fine.”
The proud mum added: “Ronnie is hitting all his milestones and he’s doing so well that he’s gone off to join the nursery with the other toddlers his age.” For more see headlines.org.uk.