Another operation for brave young Beth as parents say 'thanks'
She plays happily with a tea set, just as any other child would.
Yet Beth Smith has had to endure more in her two years than most people do in a lifetime – with yet another operation on the way.
Beth suffers from Craniosynostosis, a condition where her skull is fused together, unable to expand as she grows.
Last year she had to have special rods inserted into her head in a delicate operation at Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
Her parents, Peter and Claire Smith, have had to manually expand the rods every day to encourage the skull to grow.
After scares over an infection in the wound made by the rods, Beth eventually had them removed in the hope that she would be able to be operation-free at least through childhood.
But she recently developed a new swelling and will now have to have more surgery.
Mr Smith said it had been a worrying few weeks.
“We had relaxed a little thinking Beth could now enjoy life without endless hospital visits,” he said.
“Thankfully the surgeons have been able to reassure us that this is not such a big problem and that it will be as much for cosmetic purposes as it is at the front of her skull.
“It came just as we were thinking that it was all over, when in fact it is just beginning.”
The couple from Bishop’s Castle, said they were so grateful for the skills of surgeons at Birmingham Children’s Hospital that they launched a fundraising campaign to say thank you.
That fund has now passed £4,000 and, thanks to the people of Shropshire and the Mid Wales border, is still growing.
Beth was born with bicoronal craniosynostosis, only the 61st person in the UK to suffer with the condition.
Staff at Telford’s Princess Royal Hospital noticed something was wrong when she was just a couple of days old.
Her skull is fused at the front so as her brain grew and her skull did not and the pressure built up dangerously.
The life-saving operation, which took five hours left her with rods inside her skull on a temporary basis.
“Every day we had had to expand the rods by two millimetres to help her skull to grow,” Mr Smith said.
“They had to come out a couple of weeks early has Beth developed an infection but the hospital was happy that the procedure that done the trick and that her skull was large enough to cope as she is growing up.”
He said his daughter had been incredible.
“Within two days of the operation she was standing up in her cot as if nothing had happened. The doctors were amazed.”
The couple have thanked the local community for all their support, particularly with the fundraising for Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
A collection box at Jamie Ward butchers in the Churchstoke shopping centre, where Peter is the manager, has been a particular success.
“We give dog bones away free of charge, but customers will put a donation into the box,” he said.
“Jamie has been so understanding, allowing me to fundraise and also to take time off when I needed it for hospital appointments.”
The couple, along with Jamie’s daughter, Tori, and a work colleague also took part in a Zipwire Challenge.
They completed the longest zipwire run in Europe, across a quarry in Snowdonia, to boost funds.
The family’s fundraising was also given a celebrity boost when Dominic Brunt who plays Paddy Kirk in the ITV soap, Emmerdale, pulled out the winning numbers in a raffle at the store.
“He was brilliant,” Peter said.
Anyone who wishes to donate to the appeal should visit justgiving.com/fundraising/Peter-Smith105
