Dawn faces hefty bill to help son

Feb 15 2006 By Fiona Hamilton, Ayrshire Post

A YOUNG mum will have to fork out thousands of pounds on private treatment to fix her baby son’s misshapen head.

Dawn Telfer faces a massive bill of more than £2000 to send little Christopher down south after he was refused the treatment on the NHS.

But time is ticking for the 10-month-old tot as each day his deformity is getting worse, making it almost impossible to treat.

Dawn, 24 even begged her bank for a loan to fund the treatment. She said: “Christopher was born seven weeks premature and we noticed after about three months that he didn’t move his head to the right.

“We regularly mentioned the shape of Christopher’s head at health checks, only to be told that ‘no-one’s head is a perfect shape’ and ‘it’ll round out in time’.

“On top of that we learned that he has slight brain damage which has effected his movement on his right side.

“Nothing is going right for him and no-one can help.”

It wasn’t until Dawn was browsing the Internet that she discovered that Christopher, who gets weekly physiotherapy, was actually suffering from plagiocephaly, flattened head syndrome.

Hours of digging unveiled a helmet called STARband that could help correct Christopher’s condition.

He’d have to wear the light-weight plastic and foam helmet for 24 hours a day for up to six months to correct the shape of his head.

But when an excited Dawn informed doctors of her find her hopes were shattered when they said the treatment wasn’t available.

Instead the Telfer family will have to fork out to travel to Leeds for the treatment as well as make various costly trips for reviews — on top of the £2000 cost of the helmet.

Dawn, of Coylton, went on: “My issue is that the NHS does not consider plagiocephaly worth treating because they consider it to be purely cosmetic.

“Speak to any parent of a baby with the condition and you will find the same reaction, one of total disbelief.

“How can something so obvious as a misshapen head be not worth correcting?

“The NHS will pay for a brace to fix and straighten teeth, pin a child’s ears back and give people nose jobs but not to correct the shape of a child’s head it outrageous.

“It’s so frustrating.”

If Christopher’s condition is left to develop naturally it could effect his facial, ear and jaw symmetry and lead to dental and speech problems.

Dawn added: “The whole thing makes me so frustrated and angry. I don’t want him to be teased when he goes to school.”